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BRITAIN 

AND 

GREATER BRITAIN 



CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS 

C. F. CLAY, Manager 

LONDON : FETTER LANE, E.G. 4 

NEW YORK : G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS. 
BOMBAY ■^ 

CALCUTTA ImACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd 
MADRAS J 

TORONTO : J. M. DENT AND SONS, Ltd. 
TOKYO : MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



BRITAIN AND GREATER BRITAIN 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 



BY 



EDWARD A. HUGHES, M.A. 

Assistant Master at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, 
Sometime Major Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge. 



CAMBRIDGE 

AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 

1919 



IlA/6 



.n? 






PREFACE 

WHEN the Syndics of the University Press invited 
me to write a History of Great Britain in the 
Nineteenth Century, they explained that the book should 
be suitable for the general public, as well as for the upper 
forms of schools. If, therefore, I am charged with sins of 
omission, my defence must be that I have not set out to 
write a text-book for examination candidates. 

I have inserted no maps — not because I underestimate 
the influence of geography upon history, but because any 
good atlas will be found suitable for use with this book. 

I should like to express my deep obligation to the 
Head of my Department, Mr H. W. Hodges, who has 
read the whole book, both in manuscript and in proof, 
and who has left hardly a page unimproved by his critic- 
isms. I must also thank Mr D. F. Ferguson, of Dart- 
mouth, for his help in the preparation of the MS. and 
Index. The dates have been revised by Cadet A. V. 
Walker, R.N. 



E. A. H. 



Royal Naval College, 
Dartmouth, 
May, 1919- 



CONTENTS 



Part I. Great Britain and Ireland 



II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 
VII. 
VIII. 

IX. 

X. 



XI. 
XII. 
XIII. 
XIV. 

XV. 
XVI. 



Introductory .... 
England from Waterloo to the Great Reform Bill 
(1815-1832) 

English Politics from the Great Reform Bill to the 

Outbreak of the Crimean War (1832 — 1853) 
The Condition of England 181 5 — 1853 
Foreign Relations to the End of the Crimean War 
Palmerstonian England 
Ireland 1800 — 1866 
England and Ireland 1868—1885 
England and Ireland 1886 — 1906 
Social Movements (A) 

(B) . . 



Part II. 
Introductory 
Canada 
South Africa 
Australia 
New Zealand 
India . 
Egypt . 



The British Empire 



XVII. The British Empire : Conclusion 
Index 



page 
3 



61 

78 

93 
103 
126 
143 
157 



175 
180 
203 

224 

237 
244 
269 
279 

288 



PART I 
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 



INTRODUCTORY 

History is so vast a subject that it is necessary to divide it 
up into sections for study. The historian may limit himself to 
a particular period, or a particular country, or a particular aspect 
of human activity. He must be on his guard, however, against 
the danger of separating his special subject from general history. 
Human life is continuous and organic. Every period has a vital 
connection with the one immediately preceding and the one 
• immediately following it. There have been few periods of change 
so rapid and violent as to make men feel that the world into 
which they had been born was passing away, and that all the old 
landmarks were being uprooted. As a general rule, the changes 
recorded by history are gradual, like the cycle of the seasons or 
the incoming of the tide. 

But just as the seasons differ in character, though they shade 
imperceptibly into one another, so great periods of history are 
seen to possess dominant characteristics. It is these broad 
principles which give unity to a multitude of apparently dis- 
connected facts. Thus in 17 th century England the great 
question at issue was whether the king should rule as a despot, 
or whether his power should be limited by Parliament. From 
this standpoint the 17th century ends with the expulsion of 
James II in 1688; though the relations between a constitutional 
king and his ministers still remained to be defined. In the 
1 8th century the main interest shifts from domestic to foreign 
affairs. The 17th century had witnessed the beginnings of 
English colonial activity, but only as a side issue. The keynote 
of the 1 8th century is the colonial rivalry between England and 
France. The true nature of this contest was often obscured : in 
one war England seemed to be fighting to avenge the wrongs of 
Maria Theresa; in the next, she was allied with Frederick the 



4 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 

Great against her. But in the seven wars in which England 
took part between 1688 and 1815, her real opponent was France, 
the prize was the empire of the world, and the weapon was sea- 
power. The last phase of the contest was also the most bitter : 
England was forced to concentrate all her attention on the life- 
and-death struggle against Napoleon, and to ignore everything 
else. It was not until his downfall at Waterloo that she could turn 
at last to those issues which were to occupy her during the 
19th century. The year 1815 may thus be regarded as the 
beginning of 19th century English history. 

Perhaps the most important question which demanded 
solution was imperial, and was the resultant of the history of the 
17th and 18th centuries. The problem was how to extend to 
the empire won in the i8th century the self-government which 
England had gained for herself in the 1 7th ; otherwise, the loss 
of our American colonies must be regarded as illustrating the 
normal development of a typical colony. It was so regarded by 
most English statesmen of both parties during the first half of 
the century. They felt too strongly the burden of empire, and 
longed for the inevitable time when the colonies would sever 
their connection with the mother country. But this was only 
a passing phase, and the 19th century was destined to lay the 
foundations of a solid colonial system. 

After playing a leading part in the Revolutionary and 
Napoleonic Wars, and in the settlement of Europe at Vienna, 
England continued to take a keen interest in Continental affairs. 
As the century wore on, however, her statesmen became less 
concerned with the balance of power in Europe. Knowing that 
the empire meant peace, and trusting in its capacity to defend 
itself, they regarded alliances with foreign powers as unnecessary 
entanglements. The dangers of this policy of "splendid isola- 
tion" were clearly seen during the South African War, when 
England was left without a friend in the world. Hence came 
the understanding with France and Russia, and the alliance 
with Japan. 



INTRODUCTORY 5 

In the domestic history of England in the 19th century there 
are many threads of development. 

First we may take the growth of democracy. The power lost 
by the monarchy in the 17th century had been gained by the 
aristocracy. In 181 5 the House of Commons was controlled by 
the House of Lords. But political rights were gradually extended 
until by the end of the century practically every adult male 
possessed the franchise. As a corollary of this process, the 
century saw the abolition of laws which imposed civil or 
educational disabilities on those who could not subscribe to 
a particular religious creed. 

Next we may consider the progress of the Industrial Revolu- 
tion. This movement, which had begun in the i8th century, 
was to gather momentum in the 19th, altering the appearance 
of the country, the elements of national prosperity, the habits, 
and even the character, of the people. At first Parliament, under 
the influence of the laissez faire economists, made no attempt 
to control these changes. But later in the century, it found 
itself obliged in the national interest to interfere more frequently 
with individual rights, until state action and supervision had 
penetrated into almost every sphere of life. 

Another marked characteristic of the century has been the 
increased importance of natural science. The discoveries of 
scientists have revolutionised not only modern industry, but 
modern thought. Religion, politics, history, and the other 
branches of social knowledge have adopted scientific methods 
and ideas. The 19th century has been essentially a scientific 
age. 

Finally we may notice the influence of Ireland upon English 
politics. In the 1 8th century, when English dependencies were 
governed almost entirely in the interests of the mother country, 
Ireland was treated as a colony. In 1782, as a result of the 
American War, the Irish Parliament in Dublin v/as made in- 
dependent of that of Great Britain, and the Crown was left as 
the only link between the two islands. But as Roman Catholics 



6 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 

were excluded from Parliament, the government was entirely in 
the hands of the Protestant minority. The ministry, moreover, 
was responsible to the English Parliament. Popular discontent 
produced the Rebellion of 1798, which convinced Pitt that 
a closer connection was necessary. He accordingly brought 
about a Parliamentary union in 1800, intending to complete the 
work by placing Roman Catholics on an equality with Protestants. 
His plans, however, were frustrated by the determined opposition 
of George III, and in 1815 Catholic Emancipation was still the 
most urgent need of Ireland. When this question was settled, 
others arose, and Irish affairs were the rock on which many 
19th century cabinets were wrecked. 



CHAPTER I 

ENGLAND FROM WATERLOO TO THE 
GREAT REFORM BILL 

The reputation of England has never stood higher than at the 
signature of the Treaty of Vienna in 1815. She had played 
a leading part in the struggle against Revolutionary and Napo- 
leonic France. Her fleets had kept the sea clear for her own 
merchant ships and transports, and had closed it to those of her 
enemies. Her army had won laurels in the Peninsula and at 
Waterloo. Her subsidies had enabled her allies to take the field. 
She, alone of the great countries of Europe, was never invaded 
by Napoleon. Even when he struck down her allies, she was 
able to conduct the war single-handed. The moral effect of this 
determined resistance is hard to exaggerate. While the nations 
of the Continent groaned under Napoleon's rule, they derived 
fresh hope from the knowledge that one country was still un- 
subdued. England, as Pitt had anticipated, saved herself by her 
exertions, and helped to save Europe by her example. 

Towards the end, the contest had become one of endurance. 
But for the resources developed by the Industrial Revolution, 
England could never have supported the burden. At the 
beginning of the i8th century England was a nation of farmers, 
exporting corn and wool. Her maritime trade was flourishing; 
but her manufactures were on a small scale. A series of inven- 
tions completely altered her economic life, and changed her from 
a farm into a workshop. 

When the century opened, all processes in the textile trades — 
teasing and carding, spinning, weaving, and printing — were done 
by hand. Before its close, machines had been invented which 
could perform all these functions. At first the new machines 



8 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

were driven by water-power; later, the perfection of the steam 
engine by Watt supplied them with a constant and dependable 
motive power. 

The introduction of machinery on an extensive scale resulted 
in a great demand for iron, which could not have been met at 
the beginning of the century. The use of charcoal in the manu- 
facture of iron was rapidly exhausting our forests, and the 
government had to intervene in order to ensure a suflEicient 
supply of timber for the navy. In 1735 a process was invented 
for converting coal into coke, which replaced charcoal for smelt- 
ing. In 1760 blast furnaces were built in which coal was burnt, 
and in 1790 the steam engine was used to give a more powerful 
and continuous blast. This was a great economy; for "a seam 
of coal two feet thick and an acre in extent will supply as much 
energy as could be obtained by burning all the trees that could 
be grown in the same sized piece of land for 10,000 years." Iron 
became so cheap that it was used for purposes hitherto undreamt 
of, such as the building of bridges. The age of iron had begun. 

The improvements in manufacture would have been of little 
use, if better means of communication had not enabled manu- 
facturers to transport their wares cheaply and easily. Before this 
period all big towns had grown on or near navigable rivers. The 
roads were beneath contempt. Their gradients' were sharp and 
their surface was execrable. Coaches often stuck up to their 
axles in the ruts, and had to be extricated by teams of oxen. At 
the beginning of the century Queen Anne took six hours to cover 
the last nine miles of a journey to Petworth. When coal was 
taken from the Duke of Bridgewater's colliery at Worsley to the 
centre of Manchester, five miles away, the cost of carriage 
doubled its price to the consumer. James Brindley, the Duke's 
steward, constructed a canal between the two places, thus making 
the cost of carriage negligible, and enabling coal to be sold in 
Manchester at half its former price. Encouraged by this success, 
the Duke entrusted Brindley with the construction of other 
canals, and his example was generally followed. 



i] ENGLAND 1815-1832 9 

At the very beginning of the 1 9th century Telford constructed 
grand-trunk roads which were admirably engineered, and 
Macadam's method of making an even and durable surface 
added a new word to the language. Lighter coaches and faster 
horses could be used on these roads, and a speed of eleven or 
twelve miles an hour could be maintained. The number of stage 
coaches doubled between 181 2 and 1825. The journey by 
coach from London to Holyhead took 45 1- hours in 1810, and 
27 hours in 1836. In 1848 the mail train took 22 hours; it now 
takes 6 hrs. 20 mins. 

The Industrial Revolution was to broaden and deepen during 
the 19th century; but some of its most important results were 
already clear in 1815. 

The use of machinery and the division of labour effected an 
economy in time and labour, so that goods became cheaper. 
Hargreaves' spinning jenny saved 750 per cent, on the spinning 
wheel. The diminished cost of manufactured articles led to a 
largersale. In the century before Waterloo, the Yorkshire woollen 
trade expanded ten-fold, the cotton trade over fifty-fold, and other 
branches of industry to a greater or less extent. The national 
revenue rose from less than ;^5, 000,000 to ;^72,2to,ooo. The 
population, which had been almost stationary for centuries, grew 
rapidly. Liverpool was ten times as big in 1760 as in 1700. 
Manchester, Bradford, and Glasgow increased 75 per cent, in the 
first two decades of the 19th century. At the very beginning of 
the movement the new factories were built in hilly districts, where 
there was abundant water-power. After the introduction of the 
steam engine they grew up on the coalfields. Thus the south 
and east of England declined in prosperity; while the north, 
which had previously been semi-barbarous and the home of lost 
causes, became the industrial centre of the country. The new 
towns could not have been fed, had it not been for the better 
means of communication. 

While the Industrial Revolution added to the wealth and 
power of the country, it had bad results as well. It brought about 



lo GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

a cleavage between industrial and agricultural life. Hitherto the 
weaver had lived in a village, and had usually possessed a few 
acres of land, with perhaps a cow and a couple of pigs. When 
trade was slack, he could devote most of his attention to the 
land ; and when the weather was bad, he could sit at his loom. 
Now, the cottager could not compete with machinery, and the 
factory hand was divorced from the soil. 

The transition from the old system to the new involved much 
temporary hardship. In the textile trades, for example, machinery 
affected spinning before weaving. It had previously taken from 
six to eight people to prepare and spin yarn for one weaver, who 
often had to waste much time going round and collecting it. 
Spinning had been the most important rural industry. In the 
long winter evenings the cottager's women-folk, and possibly his 
aged father, could each earn from one to three shillings a week 
at the spinning wheel. But the spinning jenny with its dozen 
spindles soon made the spinning wheel a thing of the past, and 
deprived the rural population of an important addition to their 
incomes. The weavers at first profited by the new inventions, 
as they were now provided with as much yarn as they could use. 
Until about i8i 5 theyenjoyed great prosperity. The power-loqm 
had been invented a generation before; but it was only slowly 
coming into use. In the ten years after Waterloo, however, the 
number of power-looms increased from about 4,000 to 30,000. 
There were still a quarter of a million hand-weavers; but they 
were reduced to the most pitiable distress. 

Though the misery of the hand-workers driven out by 
machinery was intense, the expansion of our industries finally 
absorbed most of the unemployed labour. A more fundamental 
evil of the Industrial Revolution was the dependence of the 
country upon the uncertain factor of trade, instead of the solid 
basis of land. The 19th century was to experience a series of 
financial crises, due to over-speculation after a period of good 
trade. These disasters recurred at curiously regular intervals, 
ruining capitalists and throwing artisans out of work. English 



i] ENGLAND 1815-1832 11 

trade and industry, moreover, were now liable to be disorganised 
by events in all quarters of the world. A revolution in France, 
civil war in America, an eruption in Italy, or a drought in 
Australia might deprive us for the time of the raw material for 
our industries or a market for our manufactures. 

The bad effects of the Industrial Revolution were the more 
noticeable because the new factories were not supervised by the 
state. As a result, most Englishmen worked under abominable 
conditions, and lived in squalid and insanitary homes. These 
evils were only remedied when it became clear that the national 
stock was in danger of serious deterioration. 

Side by side with the Industrial Revolution, important 
changes had taken place in rural England. At the beginning of 
the 1 8th century, agriculture was conducted on the open-field 
system, which had persisted since the Middle Ages. The typical 
English village was a long street in the middle of two or three 
large fields, which were enclosed by temporary fences, and 
divided into acre or half-acre strips. The land of each occupier 
was composed of a number of these strips, in different parts of 
the fields. One field lay fallow each year, and the others were 
cultivated. The hay from the village meadow was distributed 
in proportion to the number of strips each villager possessed in 
the arable fields. All occupiers of land had rights of pasture on 
the village waste, and on the stubble in the fields after the 
harvest. In most cases the squire had a compact field, which 
had been carved out of the waste, in addition to his strips. 
Some of the occupiers were freeholders; others were copyholders, 
paying a fixed rent for a term of lives; and a few were tenants 
at will. 

The Revolution of 1688 gave a monopoly of power to the 
landed aristocracy, which composed both Houses of Parliament, 
and could make laws in its own interest. It became the steady 
policy of most country gentlemen to depress the legal status of 
freeholders and copyholders by converting them into lease- 
holders. 



12 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

In the course of the i8th century many improvements were 
introduced into English farming. The importation of roots, such 
as turnips, led to the rotation of crops, which gave the land a rest 
without the waste of the fallow system. Many peers and gentle- 
men became interested in drainage, manures, seeds, and im- 
proved stock-breeding. George III wrote articles for the Annals 
of Agriculture, and was known as " Farmer George". The open- 
field system, however, was a serious obstacle to improvement, 
and the practice began of "enclosing" villages, i.e. of redistribu- 
ting the land in the form of compact holdings. Between 1750 and 
1850 nearly all the villages in England were thus treated. 

These enclosures made it easier for an enterprising landlord 
to carry out improvements in drainage or breeding, and the 
land became more productive under the new scientific farming. 
The factory towns provided the market, and rents often doubled 
or even trebled. 

There was, however, another side to the picture. The small 
freeholder's savings went in paying his share of the legal expenses 
of the enclosure, and in hedging and ditching his new farm. 
He did not possess the capital to drain and manure his land 
properly, and to buy pedigree cattle. Farming was becoming 
a trade, dependent on the fluctuations of the market, and he 
could not afford to wait until prices were at their highest. His 
wife and daughters could no longer earn anything by spinning. 
The manner in which the Poor Law was administered made him 
contribute to the expenses of the capitalist farmer, who employed 
hired labour (see p. 29). On the top of all this, the peace was 
followed by twenty years of agricultural depression, at the end 
of which the English yeomen, who had long formed the back- 
bone of our armies, had ceased to exist. Some had sunk to the 
position of agricultural labourers, some had drifted to the factory 
towns, and a few had been able to join the ranks of the new 
capitalist farmers, who rented their land and buildings from 
a landlord. By the thirties it was rare to find a cultivator of the 
soil who had any rights over it. 



i] ENGLAND 1815-1832 13 

One would naturally expect to find that the evils of transition 
to the capitalist system in industry and agriculture were in- 
creased by a quarter of a century of war. There is no doubt, 
however, that the country gained in prosperity between 1793 
and 18 1 5. The population of the United Kingdom rose from 
14,000,000 to 19,000,000, the exports from ;!^i8,3oo,ooo to 
;^58, 600,000, while taxes which in 1 792. produced ;^2o,ooo,ooo, 
in 1815 produced ;^45, 000,000. 

Englishmen naturally thought that peace would bring still 
greater prosperity, but their hopes were sadly disappointed. 
During the war English manufacturers and traders had enjoyed 
special advantages; for England was the only country in which 
it was safe to build factories, and only English ships were safe 
at sea throughout the period. But the war had diverted English 
capital from channels which were profitable into channels in 
which, from a purely economic standpoint, it was wasted. The 
national debt was larger by ;^6oo, 000,000, though much had 
been spent on the war out of revenue. This money had not 
been used in the production of further wealth, but had been 
spent on the army and navy, which protected the national 
resources without adding to them. At the time this fact was 
obscured, because most of the expenditure was on munitions and 
military equipment, and thus employed British labour. Even 
the subsidies to foreign powers were really spent on English 
manufactures. When peace was made, governments no longer 
had to renew their military stores continually, and were anxious 
to practise retrenchment. Trades which were dependent on the 
war suffered immediately on the removal of this artificial 
stimulus. The smaller demand for iron, for instance, caused its 
price to fall from ;;^2o to ;j^8 a ton. Ironmasters were forced to 
shut down some of their furnaces and to dismiss some of their 
men. This in turn led to a depression in the coal trade. 

Many English manufacturers had accumulated large stocks 
for exportation when the ports of the Continent should be re- 
opened at the peace. But these goods were shipped iii such 



14 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

quantities that the market was glutted, and they had to be sold 
for ridiculously low prices. In consequence, manufacturers had 
to curtail production and make their employees work short time. 
It was when trade was thus stagnant and work hard to find that 
thousands of men were discharged from the services to seek 
employment in civil life. 

The general depression was aggravated by the state of the 
currency. In 1797 the notes of the Bank of England had been 
made inconvertible, i.e. the Bank no longer guaranteed to ex- 
change them for gold. These notes were issued in such numbers 
that their value depreciated. In addition, the value of gold 
fluctuated considerably at this period. From these and other 
causes a ;^5 note was worth ^^. los. od. in gold in 181 3, and 
£/^. 6s. od. in 18 15. These variations in the currency caused 
as much inconvenience to trade as if a yard were to contain 
35 inches at one time, and 43 at another. Altogether, there was 
much in the condition of England to fill its rulers with concern. 

The king of England in 181 5 was George III, who had 
ascended the throne in 1760. He was now deaf, blind, and 
insane; and his death in 1820 made no real difference to the 
government of the country. The Prince Regent, who became 
George IV on his father's death, was handsome and ac- 
complished, and could make himself very agreeable to anyone 
whom he wished to impress. But he was selfish, unscrupulous, 
and dissipated, and has been called a bad son, a bad husband, 
a bad father, a bad subject, a bad monarch, and a bad friend. 

The Tories were supreme in Parliament under Lord Liver- 
pool, who had been Prime Minister since 181 2, and who retained 
his office until his fatal illness in 1827, The Whigs, disorganised 
and divided into groups, were for the time powerless. On the 
question of the war the Tories had been unanimous; but two 
groups began to form when internal affairs came to the front. 
There were those who saw that reform was needed in many 
departments of the administration, and those who held that the 
only constitution in Europe which had proved equal to the strain 



i] ENGLAND 1815-1832 15 

of the Napoleonic Age could not possibly be improved, and 
ought to be preserved exactly as it stood. Until 1822 this second 
group was predominant in the ministry, and in 18 18 it received 
the aid of Wellington, who returned from France in that year. 
From 1822 to 1827 the more liberal section of the party was 
able to make its influence felt. 

In the first period the minister who was responsible for the 
policy of the government was Lord Castlereagh, the Foreign 
Secretary. He represented England at the Congress of Vienna, 
where he was treated as an equal by kings and emperors. On his 
return he steadily opposed all demands for reform. Many of his 
contemporaries thought that his intercourse with foreign despots 
had taught him to despise the lower orders. This view is unjust. 
What Europe needed most urgently was peace, and peace could 
be preserved only if England acted in harmony with foreign 
states. Continental rulers and statesmen had a natural horror 
of revolutionary tendencies, and Castlereagh thought that if he 
permitted even a moderate degree of reform they would regard 
him with suspicion. He did not undervalue the rights of peoples 
and of individuals; but he thought them less important at that 
time than the maintenance of the peace which had been so 
hardly won. 

There was one feature of the national distress which a 
Parliament of landowners would wish to remedy. Agriculture 
had prospered exceedingly until 1814, owing to the new im- 
provements, the growth of population, the large purchases of 
the government for the services, and the disturbed state of the 
Continent. The average price of corn for the four years ending 
May 1813 was 105 j. 5^. a quarter, but it dropped to 60s. Sd. 
in February 181 5. Rents had been fixed on the basis of high 
prices, and many landlords had borrowed money for improve- 
ments on the security of high rents. The agricultural interest 
was threatened with ruin, and in May 181 5 the government 
introduced a bill prohibiting the importation of wheat under 
80^. a quarter. It was argued that most of the taxation fell on 



1 6 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

land, and that the country should be self-sufficing in food. But 
agriculture was no longer the chief occupation of England, and 
dear food meant misery to the industrial population. For three 
weeks it rained petitions against the bill : 40,000 signatures were 
obtained in London on a single Saturday. The country, apart 
from the land-owning class, was strongly opposed to the measure; 
but the land-owning class was supreme in Parliament, and it 
became law. Even this act did not avert twenty years of agri- 
cultural depression. In 1816 the distress was such that many 
farmers gave up their farms, and agricultural labourers in some 
parts of the country could only earn 6d. a day. 

Though it is hard to see what steps the government could 
have taken to alleviate the general misery, the working classes 
were annoyed to find that it took none. They accordingly lent 
a ready ear to Radical orators, who told them that nothing would 
be done for them until they were represented in Parliament. 
For this purpose vast meetings were held, which the government 
put down by military force. Acts were passed to prohibit public 
meetings, even for the purpose of hearing scientific lectures, 
unless sanctioned by the justices of the peace. The power of 
the authorities to suppress disorder was strengthened by the 
suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. These measures drove 
discontent underground, and produced the quiet of despair. 
This is one of the gloomiest periods in English history. The 
cabinet were right in taking firm steps to restore order, but 
wrong in remaining blind to the causes which produced disorder. 
In applying coercion without remedial measures they were 
treating the symptoms instead of the disease. 

A more hopeful period began with the appointment of Peel 
as Home Secretary and of Canning as Foreign Secretary on the 
death of Castlereagh in 1822. These men were moderate 
Tories, who were not disposed to tolerate abuses merely be- 
cause they were of long standing. 

Robert Peel was the eldest son of a rich cotton-spinner, 
whose zealous support of Tory principles had been rewarded 



i] ENGLAND 1815-1832 17 

by a baronetcy. The first Sir Robert Peel had determined to 
make a statesman of his heir, who showed great promise at an 
early age. After a brilliant career at Harrow and Christ Church 
he had entered Parliament, and in 181 2 had been made Chief 
Secretary for Ireland. Resigning this post in 1818, he had 
become chairman of a secret committee of the House on the 
paper currency. His prejudices were in favour of inconvertible 
bank-notes ; but his mind was singularly open to argument, and 
the evidence brought before the committee persuaded him that 
a resumption of cash payments was essential. He succeeded in 
convincing the whole House of the necessity of this step, and 
thus rendered a great service to the country by giving it a good 
circulating medium. 

During his tenure of the Home Office Peel devoted himself 
to the reform of the criminal code. There were 223 capital 
offences, of which only 67 dated back to the accession of 
George I. These included such crimes as cutting down a tree, 
impersonating a Greenwich pensioner, and stealing an article 
worth five shillings. The very severity of the law made it in- 
effective, for juries often refused to convict prisoners who were 
obviously guilty of trifling offences. In 1819 there were 14,254 
trials, 9,510 convictions, 1,314 death sentences, and only 108 
executions. Peel took away the death penalty from a hundred 
offences, and thus made the law at once more merciful and 
more effective. 

At this time there was no police system worthy of the name. 
The London parishes and some of the larger towns kept watch- 
men, who were supposed to prevent or detect crime. Many of 
them were decrepit, and some received no pay, but were en- 
couraged by the offer of rewards for the detection of certain 
heinous crimes. It was a common practice for these men to 
allow youths to commit small offences with impunity, and to 
keep them under observation in the hope that they would 
sooner or later be guilty of a crime worthy of blood-money. 
Cases were even known in which the lives of innocent men 



r8 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

were sworn away for the sake of the reward. In place of this 
corrupt and useless system Peel established the London Police, 
on the lines of the splendid force he had already instituted in 
Ireland. There they had been nicknamed "Bobbies" and 
'^Peelers", and these names soon spread to England. In 1839 
the police system was made optional, and in 1856 compulsory, 
for the whole country. 

When Peel began his reforms, the gaols were squalid and 
insanitary dens in which prisoners of all ages and both sexes 
were huddled together so closely that in some cases they had 
to lie edgeways. Here might be seen the hardened criminal, 
the first offender, the debtor, and the innocent man who was 
merely awaiting trial. The gaolers were often drawn from the 
ranks of the prisoners themselves, and, not being paid for their 
work, exacted what they could for the barest necessaries of life. 
To Peel belongs the credit of having introduced some order 
and decency into this chaos, though he unfortunately allowed 
the system of transportation to remain unreformed. 

George Canning was one of the most brilliant men in the 
Tory party, but he had been on bad terms with Castlereagh, with 
whom he had fought a duel. On the latter's death Liverpool 
felt that the ministry was too weak and unpopular to withstand 
the growing pressure from the Whigs, and he offered places in 
the administration to Canning and some of his friends. For the 
next five years Canning was almost dictator of England, but 
his own work lay mainly in the region of foreign politics. He 
gave his support, however, to Huskisson, who had been made 
President of the Board of Trade. 

Huskisson was no Free Trader, but he lowered and simpli- 
fied many of the customs duties, particularly those on raw 
materials. He next modified the Navigation Acts. These 
famous laws, passed by the Commonwealth, and renewed and 
amplified by succeeding governments, aimed at giving a mono- 
poly of the] carrying trade with foreign countries to English 
ships. They had undoubtedly fostered our merchant shipping, 



i] ENGLAND 1815-1832 19 

but other countries were now beginning to pass Navigation 
Acts of their own. Huskisson accordingly passed a Reciprocity 
Act, giving the king in council the right of making a treaty with 
any country, allowing the ships of each country to use the ports 
of the other (1825). This act was received with great joy in the 
colonies, which had often suffered from the monopoly hitherto 
possessed by English ship-owners. 

In 1824 the government was persuaded to repeal the Com- 
bination Act of 1800, which imposed severe penalties on all who 
combined to raise wages or to diminish output. The strikes which 
immediately broke out forced Parliament to declare violence 
and intimidation illegal, but it had the courage to allow a limited 
right of combination. Masters had previously been tacitly allowed 
to form associations for fixing prices and wages, and the working 
classes no longer smarted under a sense of injustice. 

The period of Tory reform was cut short in February 1827, 
when Lord Liverpool was seized with an apoplectic fit, from 
which he never recovered sufficiently even to resign. He was 
not a man of great abiUty ; but he had possessed enough tact 
to keep together a cabinet which contained very diverse 
elements. His death broke up not only the administration but 
the party. Canning became Prime Minister, but he lost the 
support of many of Liverpool's subordinates, particularly 
Wellington, who mistrusted his sincerity, and Peel, who was 
opposed to Catholic Emancipation. Canning was already in 
poor health, and the struggle against his former colleagues 
proved too much for him. He died in August 1827, at the 
height of his reputation. His championship of liberal ideas 
abroad and of religious equality at home gave him a deserved 
fame. But he was in favour of administrative, not electoral 
reform. Like the benevolent despots of the i8th century, he 
believed in government for the people, but not by the people. 
Had he lived longer, he would have stood out as the strongest 
opponent of Parliamentary reform, and would have lost his 
early popularity. 



20 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

For a short time after the death of their leader the Can- 
ningites served under Wellington, the new Prime Minister; but 
they soon left him and joined the Whigs. Though Wellington 
and Peel had repeatedly declared their determination to resist 
the demands of the Catholics, the course of events was too 
strong for them. O'Connell had formed the Catholic Associa- 
tion, and in 1828 he challenged the government by standing 
for County Clare and defeating the ministerial candidate, though 
he knew he would not be allowed to take his seat (see p. 95). 
The disturbed state of Ireland persuaded Peel that only the 
grant of Catholic Emancipation could avert civil war, and he 
sent Wellington his resignation. His arguments converted 
Wellington. But, if Emancipation was necessary, only a Tory 
government could hope to force it on a reluctant king and 
House of Lords; so Wellington begged Peel to reconsider his 
resignation. Sacrificing his reputation for consistency to his 
sense of duty. Peel consented. At the last moment George IV 
was troubled by what he called his conscience, and summoned 
the cabinet with the object of stopping the bill. "The king 
talked wildly for six hours, refreshing himself with brandy as he 
proceeded." The ministers resigned, and the king was forced 
to recall them in the evening. The Catholics were relieved of 
their disabilities; but the Tories felt that they had been de- 
ceived, and shook their fists at Peel when he defended his 
change of front. 

On June 26th, 1830, George IV died, mourned by none. 
He was succeeded by his brother, William IV, who was gar- 
rulous, eccentric, and weak-minded. The more solemn the 
occasion, the more childishly he behaved. But he was good- 
natured, and was not without a queer sense of duty. He had 
spent his early life in the Navy, and was therefore popular as a 
"Sailor King". His accession weakened the position of the 
cabinet, as he was understood to lean towards the Whigs. 
The government was further embarrassed by the French Revo- 
lution of Julyj which dethroned Charles X. His chief adviser, 



i] ENGLAND 1815-1832 21 

Polignac, had been on fairly intimate terms with Wellington, 
who was regarded by all Continental Conservatives as an ally. 
The government had lost the progressive Tories after the death 
of Canning, and had incurred the dislike of the high Tories by 
surrender to the Catholics. They lost fifty seats at the general 
election necessitated by the accession of William IV, and now 
had to face a serious demand for Parliamentary reform. 

The basis of our representative system had been laid by 
Edward I, who had summoned two representatives from each 
county, and two each from certain towns, chosen on account 
of their importance. No fresh constituencies were created after 
the Revolution of 1688. Since then the Industrial Revolution 
had shifted the centre of gravity of the country. Flourishing 
towns had decayed, and hamlets had grown into vast industrial 
centres. There had been a migration of population from the 
south to the north. Of these changes the representative system 
had taken no notice. More than half the Parliamentary boroughs 
were in the maritime counties between the Wash and the 
Severn, and half of these were on the tideway. A third of the 
members of the House of Commons were returned by con- 
stituencies with less than a hundred electors each. Fifty 
constituencies had no electors at all. Lord John Russell was 
speaking sober truth when he said that members were sent to 
Parliament by a green mound, or by a stone wall with three 
niches in it. The borough of Dunwich, which had long ago 
disappeared beneath the North Sea, was still represented in 
the House of Commons. On the other hand a factory town like 
Manchester, with a population of 200,000, sent no members to 
Parliament. 

The franchise bore as little relation to the needs of the time 
as did the constituencies. In the counties the vote was given 
to owners of freehold land worth 40^-. a year. But the yeomen 
who had cultivated their own freeholds had disappeared during 
the Agrarian Revolution, and the new capitalist farmers who 
leased their land had no vote. The county franchise had at 



22 . GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

least the advantage of uniformity; not so the franchise in 
boroughs. In some, those could vote who resided within the 
ancient limits of the borough as it had been in the time of 
Edward I; in others, those who paid "scot and lot", or rates; in 
others, all "pot- wallopers "S who had a hearth where they could 
cook their meals. In most boroughs, however, the representa- 
tives were chosen either by the corporation, or by the freemen. 

As a result of these anomalies there were Only 160,000 
electors in the British Isles. Cornwall returned 44 M.P.s, the 
whole of Scotland 45. The county of Bute had a population 
of 14,000, and only 21 electors, of whom 20 lived outside the 
county. At one election, owing to a snow-storm, only the resi- 
dent elector attended the meeting, in addition to the sheriff and 
the returning officer. "He, of course, took the chair, constituted 
the meeting, called over the roll of freeholders, answered to his 
own name, took the vote as to the preses, and elected himself. 
He then moved and seconded his own nomination, put the 
question to the vote, and was unanimously elected." 

The natural result of the restricted franchise was corruption. 
Over ;^2oo,ooo was spent at the election for Yorkshire in 1807. 
The member who had bribed his way into Parliament expected 
to be paid for his vote. He might be given a pension or a title, 
or his son might be promoted in the Army, the Navy, or the 
Church. Some of the peers had "pocket" boroughs on their 
estates; others speculated in "rotten" boroughs. More than 
two-thirds of the members of the House in 18 16 were nominees, 
and of these half owed their seats to patrons in the House of 
Lords. This explains why the system lasted so long: the only 
men who could abolish it were those who profited by it. 

Towards the end of the i8th century attempts had been 
made to remedy these defects ; but the French Revolution filled 
most Englishmen with a horror of democratic opinions, and 
during the great war there was no time for domestic reform. 
After the downfall of Napoleon the question again began to be 

^ = " pot-boilers". 
f 



i] ENGLAND 1815-1832 23 

considered by responsible statesmen, and after 182 1 it was sup- 
ported by most of the Whigs. In the new Parliament of 
November 1830 Earl Grey asked Wellington if he meant to 
bring in a measure of Parliamentary reform. In disclaiming 
any such intention the Duke used these words: "If at the 
present moment I had imposed upon me the duty of forming a 
legislature for any country, and particularly for a country like 
this, in possession of great property of various descriptions, I 
do not mean to assert that I could form such a legislature as 
we possess now, for the nature of man is incapable of reaching 
such excellence at once; but my great endeavour would be, to 
form some description of legislature which would produce the 
same results." 

This speech aroused a storm of popular resentment, and a 
fortnight later Wellington was beaten in a division on the civil 
list, and handed in his resignation. His fall marks the end of 
two generations of practically unbroken Tory rule. The king 
sent for Grey, who told him that he considered himself pledged 
to reform, and who was commissioned to form a cabinet on 
that understanding. He was now 56 years of age, and for more 
than half his life had been the ardent champion of electoral 
reform. His high rank and known moderation might reassure 
those who dreaded revolutionary legislation. In addition, his 
cabinet was the most aristocratic of the century, including only 
four members of the House of Commons, and those of high 
birth. 

A committee of the government drew up a bill which was 
revised by the cabinet, and on March ist, 1831, Lord John 
Russell introduced it before a crowded House. He summed 
up the position of the Reformers in the words, " Our ancestors 
gave Old Sarum representatives because it 7vas a large town ; 
therefore we give members to Manchester, which is a large 
town." The bill proposed to take away 167 members from 
small boroughs, and to transfer 105 of them to large towns and 
English counties, thus leaving 62 less seats in the House. In 



24 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

boroughs the franchise was to be extended to occupiers of 
houses rated at ;£"io a year, and in counties to ;^io copyholders 
and to occupiers, as well as leaseholders, of lands worth ;^5o a 
year. The Tories objected so strongly to the bill that they took 
the unusual step of prolonging the debate on the first reading 
over seven nights, before they allowed it to be carried without 
a division, according to custom. The first real trial of strength 
was the division on the second reading. Three hundred and 
two members voted for the bill. " We were all breathless with 
anxiety," wrote Macaulay, "when Charles Wood, who stood 
near the door, jumped up on a bench and cried out 'They are 
only three hundred and one.' We set up a shout that you might 
have heard to Charing Cross, waving our hats, stamping against 
the floor, and clapping our hands... You might have heard a pin 
drop as Duncannon read the numbers. Then again the shouts 
broke out, and many of us shed tears. I could scarcely refrain. 
And the jaw of Peel feU ; and the face of Twiss was as the face 
of a damned soul ; and Herries looked like Judas taking his 
necktie off for the last operation." After such a narrow victory 
it was not surprising that the government were beaten on the 
motion to go into committee. The king was persuaded to 
come and dissolve Parliament, after a scene of indescribable 
disorder in the Lotds. 

The Whigs were surprised at the strength of popular feeHng 
on their side. Trade and agriculture were in a state of great 
depression. The last two harvests had been failures. In Sussex 
labourers were glad- to work on the roads for 3^. or 4c/. a day. 
Many people in Lancashire earned only 2d. a day. The general 
distress made the working classes look to Parliamentary reform 
as a panacea for their troubles. The Reform Bill was so much 
bolder than anyone had expected that even extreme Radicals 
accepted it as an instalment. The bloodless revolution in France 
had its effect in this country. The attitude of the crowd at 
elections was so unmistakable that borough-mongers dared not 
do as they liked with their own. 



i] ENGLAND 1815-1832 25 

The Whigs came back with a majority of over a hundred, 
and in spite of Tory obstruction the bill passed through all its 
stages in the Commons. But though the Lord Chancellor went 
down on his knees and entreated the peers to accept it (he 
had been imbibing mulled port), they rejected it after a 
week's debate. The Sun and the Chronicle appeared in deep 
mourning. Muffled tolls were rung in the churches of Birming- 
ham. The Marquis of Londonderry was attacked by the mob 
in London, and Lord Tankerville at Darlington. Nottingham 
Castle was burnt down. The rioters at Bristol burnt the Mansion 
House and the Bishop's palace, and were only quelled by a 
cavalry charge. Six of their number perished in the flames, two 
were shot dead, two died of sword cuts, and two of excessive 
drinking. 

When Parliament reopened in December, Russell introduced 
his third Reform Bill, which disfranchised fewer boroughs than 
the others, and provided for no diminution in the number of 
members. In March 1832 it was sent up to the Lords, where 
it passed its second reading. But the peers insisted on intro- 
ducing amendments in committee, and Grey resigned. After a 
fruitless attempt on the part of Wellington to form a ministry, 
Grey was recalled with the king's promise to create enough 
peers to ensure the passage of the bill. Further resistance was 
hopeless, and Wellington persuaded a sufficient number of peers 
to stay away to allow the bill to pass. On June 7th it received 
the royal assent. 

The results of the Reform Bill did not justify all the hopes 
of its supporters or all the fears of its opponents. A Tory M.P. 
had prophesied that a reformed House of Commons would, in 
ten years, depose the king and expel the Lords from their 
House; and a Tory peer had invested ;,^5oo,ooo in the United 
States against the evil day. But the Reform Bill was a middle- 
class, not a democratic, measure. The average artisan con- 
sidered himself lucky if he had a room to himself and his family, 
and a house rated at ;^io a. year was beyond his wildest dreams. 



26 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

At the hustings at Sunderland in 1845 ten thousand men held 
up their hands for Col. Thompson, and hardly any for his rival; 
but these did not enjoy the franchise, and he was beaten by 627 
votes to 497. Only one man in 24 possessed the vote, and a 
majority of the House might represent only one-eighth of the 
electorate. Voting was still open, and there was still room for in- 
fluence and pressure at elections. Extreme Radicals were bitterly 
conscious of the short-comings of the measure. They felt that the 
working class had overcome the resistance of the Lords, and that 
the middle class had run off with the spoils. The Poor Man's 
Guardian of August 17th, 1832, called the Reform Bill "a 
damnable delusion, giving us as many tyrants as there are shop- 
keepers.... It was not enough that we were exposed for centuries 
to prowling oligarchs. These noble beasts of prey were too 
good for us... The lion must give place to the rat, and the tiger 
to the leech." 

The Radicals should have reflected, however, that even this 
incomplete and unsystematic measure of reform had been passed 
only with the greatest difficulty, and that a more pretentious 
bill would undoubtedly have failed. As it was, a beginning 
had been made. The principle had been established that the 
constitution was not sacrosanct and immutable. The reformed 
House of Commons represented the country imperfectly; but 
it represented it infinitely better than the unreformed House. 
This change had an important effect on the position of the 
House of Lords, which henceforth only claimed the right of 
delaying legislation until the country had been given a chance 
of pronouncing its verdict on it. The House of Commons also 
altered in character. New men entered the House who were 
more concerned with the condition of England than with the 
aflairs of foreign countries. Facts about trade and social condi- 
tions became more important than apt classical quotations. 
There were fewer opportunities for set speeches, and the orator 
gave way to the debater. The public never lost the interest in 
the proceedings of Parliament which it had displayed during 



i] ENGLAND 1815-1832 27 

the passage of the Reform Bill. The publication of official 
division lists in 1836 tended to make members the delegates 
rather than the representatives of their constituents. 

But these tendencies took time to make themselves felt. It 
was a generation before the middle class used the power which, 
had been given it. The Reform Bill had been passed by the 
Whigs, and the Whigs were still an aristocratic party. 



CHAPTER II 

ENGLISH POLITICS FROM THE GREAT REFORM 
BILL TO THE OUTBREAK OF THE CRIMEAN 
WAR 

The general election held after the passage of the Reform Bill 
gave an overwhelming majority to Earl Grey. The new House 
of Commons contained 382 Whigs, 71 Radicals, 167 Tories, 
and 38 Repealers under O'Connell. It seemed that the fears 
of the Tories had been justified, and the balance of parties de- 
stroyed. It must be noticed, however, that the victors were 
divided among themselves. By the Radicals the Reform Bill 
was treated simply as a means to an end, as the necessary pre- 
liminary to reforms in all departments of the administration. Old- 
fashioned Whigs regarded it as a final settlement, and were well 
content with things as they were. The term "Liberal" now began 
to be used to include all shades of Whig and Radical opinion. 

One of the most remarkable features of the reformed Parlia- 
ment was the manner in which Peel soon regained control, not 
only over his own party, but over the whole House. In the 
debate on the address he declared that he would consider the 
question of reform as "finally and irrevocably disposed of. He 
was for reforming every institution that really required reform; 
but he was for doing it gradually, dispassionately, and deliber- 
ately, in order that the reform might be lasting." Peel realised 
that the old Toryism, with its indiscriminate hatred of every- 
thing new, was out of place in an age of change. Under his 
influence the Tory party became the Conservative party, and 
the change was more than one of name. The government often 
received valuable help in legislation from Peel in the Commons 
and from Wellington in the Lords. 



CH. ii] ENGLISH POLITICS 1832-1853 29 

One of the first great measures of the Whig government was 
the Poor Law Reform Act of 1834. The foundations of the 
English Poor Law system were laid in the reign of Elizabeth, 
when each parish was made responsible for its own poor. Work 
was to be found for the able-bodied, and the infirm were to be 
supported out of a poor rate levied by the churchwardens. At 
the beginning of the i8th century many towns built workhouses, 
to which all applicants for relief were sent. At the very end of 
the century the Berkshire magistrates came to an important 
decision. There was no doubt that the wages of the agricultural 
labourer were too small for him to support his family, at a time 
when a large population seemed essential to make up for the 
drain of the French wars. Instead of sending applicants for 
relief to the workhouse, the magistrates thought it would be 
cheaper and better to supplement their wages by grants from 
the poor rate. They accordingly drew up a table showing what 
sum of money a labourer ought to receive, in proportion to the 
number of his family, and varying with the price of corn ; and 
if he received less from his employer, they made up the de- 
ficiency. This seemed such a common-sense plan that it was 
imitated throughout the country. 

The results of this change of policy were disastrous. Em- 
ployers were relieved of the necessity of paying their men a 
living wage. The lazy felt that it made no difference how hard 
they worked; since a fixed income was assured to them. The 
improvident raised large families at the public cost; while the 
self-respecting labourer who tried to do without relief could not 
marry. The state was encouraging breeding from the worst 
stock. The system was not only demoralising; it was ruinously 
expensive. It made the lot of the pauper easier than that of the 
independent labourer, with the natural result that the number of 
paupers and the amount of the poor rate increased to an alarming 
extent. The example most often quoted is that of Cholesbury, 
in Bucks, where the poor rate amounted to ;^io. 10s. od. in 180 1, 
and ;Cz^h or 32-$"- in the pound, in 1832. In the latter year 



30 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

104 of the 139 inhabitants of the parish were in receipt of relief. 
The number of paupers in the whole country nearly doubled in 
the first thirty years of the century. The financial burden led 
to remedies which were worse than the disease. Poor Law 
authorities often got rid of pauper children by apprenticing 
them at an early age to owners of factories in the north, where 
they were treated no better than slaves. The desire of each 
parish to keep its expenditure within limits led to the strict en- 
forcement of Charles II's Act of Settlement, which enabled Poor 
Law officials to deport to his old parish any newcomer who 
might become a burden on the rates. This was a serious obstacle 
to the mobility of labour in an age when old centres of industry 
were decaying and new ones springing up. 

It would be wrong to regard all these evils as the direct 
outcome of the changes in Poor Law administration. The root 
of the mischief was the depression of the agricultural labourer 
through the Agrarian Revolution. When a village was enclosed, 
the cottager frequently received no compensation for his right of 
grazing a cow or a couple of pigs on the common, of which he 
usually had no documentary proof. If he had possessed half a 
dozen strips in the common fields, he might be given instead a 
small field a couple of miles from his cottage, on condition that 
he planted a quickset hedge around it. In most cases he would 
be glad to sell it for what he could get, and would depend 
entirely on his wages. At a time when corn was dear these were 
miserably insufficient. The Poor Law authorities saved him from 
absolute starvation; but they did it in the worst possible way. 

It is highly to the credit of Grey's administration that it 
resolved to grapple with this problem. It appointed a Com- 
mission in 1832, and brought in a bill founded on their report 
in 1834. One of the main weaknesses of the existing system 
was the absence of a central body with the powers of supervision 
which had been exercised by the Privy Council before the Civil 
War. The bill therefore appointed three Poor Law Commis- 
sioners, who were to form parishes into unions for the building . 



ii] ENGLISH POLITICS 1832-1853 31 

of workhouses, to draw up regulations for their management, 
and to examine their accounts. Boards of Guardians were to 
be elected for each union, and were to appoint paid adminis- 
trative officials. 

It will be seen that the working of the act depended entirely 
on the central Commissioners. The original three felt strongly 
that paupers should be distinctly worse off than independent 
labourers. Since they could not improve the condition of the 
latter, they had to depress the former. Dickens has painted the 
horrors of the new workhouse system. The Commissioners be- 
came terribly unpopular among the poor, who called them the 
"Three-Headed Devil King". But time has justified their work. 
They found a cancer eating into the body politic, and they 
realised that it could not be removed without using the knife. 
They may have cut too deeply; but that was better than lea:ving a 
trace of the disease behind. Their policy was the exact opposite 
of the previous one. Their benevolent sternness was infinitely 
wiser than the easy-going and short-sighted kindness of their pre- 
decessors. In the first three years of their administration they 
nearly halved the national poor rate, and this was the least 
of their achievements. Their powers were continued at intervals 
until 1847, when they were made permanent. Since 187 1 their 
functions have been discharged by the Local Government Board. 

By the time this act became law, Earl Grey had ceased to 
be Prime Minister. He was over seventy years of age, and had 
accomplished the great purpose of his life. The cabinet was 
hopelessly divided on the question of Ireland, and he did not 
feel equal to another great struggle. He was succeeded as Prime 
Minister by Lord Melbourne, who made a curious leader of a 
progressive party. A man of great ability and singular charm of 
manner, he took little interest in politics, reserving his real en- 
thusiasm for literature. He was quite content to let sleeping 
dogs lie, and could not understand the passion of some of his 
followers for reform. He considered it hardly well-bred to show 
such feeling, and even when he was genuinely stirred, he con- 



32 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

cealed his interest by an affectation of cynicism and flippancy. 
Save for two short intervals, he remained in office until 1841. 

In 1835 ^^6 government passed a Municipal Corporations 
Act, based on the report of a Commission appointed in 1833. 
The Commissioners found that in most corporate towns certain 
families had acquired a monopoly of the government, since 
vacancies in the corporation were filled by co-optation. In other 
towns members of the corporation were elected by the freemen, 
who usually formed a small proportion of the inhabitants. At 
Portsmouth there were only 102 freemen out of a population 
of 46,000. In a few cases the constitution was democratic. The 
freemen enjoyed privileges which were not possessed by the 
rest of the townsfolk, such as exemption from tolls, and a share 
in charitable funds. A Newcastle merchant saved ;^4oo a year 
in tolls on being made a freeman. The government of the town 
was entirely in the hands of the mayor and corporation. As 
they were irresponsible, they tended to consider their own in- 
terests rather than those of the community. Cases were frequent 
where municipal property was sold or leased to members of the 
corporation for absurdly low sums. Educational and charitable 
bequests were often misappropriated. There was no provision 
for the audit of accounts. Justice was administered by the 
mayor, who might be ignorant and corrupt. Many corporations 
refused to spend public money in establishing a police force or 
a drainage system. 

The Act of 1835 established in 183 towns a mayor and town 
council, elected by all ratepayers. The new councils were made 
to take over the duties of lighting and police, which had in 
many towns been discharged by separate commissioners. They 
were allowed to levy rates for all local purposes, and their accounts 
were to be audited by the central government. Any town which 
was big enough to need a stipendiary magistrate could apply to 
the Crown, which would choose one from barristers of a certain 
standing. 

The importance of this measure is hard to exaggerate. In 



ii] ENGLISH POLITICS 1832-1853 33 

ordinary times, inefficiency and corruption are as harmful in local 
as in national government. The new system led to a remarkable 
growth of municipal activity, and furnished an administrative 
training to many Members of Parliament. It was the logical 
corollary of the Reform Bill. 

On June 20th, 1837, William IV died. His successor was 
the Princess Victoria, only child of the Duke of Kent, fourth 
son of George III. Born on May 24th, 1819, she had been 
left fatherless in 1820; but her mother had watched over her 
education with the greatest care, and had given her a strict and 
simple training which was of the utmost value to her in after life. 

By the Salic Law the throne of Hanover went to the nearest 
male heir, Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, the fifth son of George 
III, and a roughs bad, and overbearing man. The separation 
of England and Hanover was an advantage to the former, 
as was clearly seen in 1866, when she took little notice of the 
absorption of Hanover by Prussia. 

The accession of a new sovereign was made the occasion 
for a revision of the civil list. The revenue of the Crown was 
now fixed at ;!^385,ooo a year, in addition to the duchies of 
Lancaster and Cornwall, which were then worth about ;^5o,ooo 
a year. 

The accession of Victoria was important from another stand- 
point. For a generation personal loyalty had been impossible 
in England. The vices of George IV and the eccentricities of 
William IV had lowered the influence of the sovereign. The 
age, the sex, the dignity, and the personal appearance of the 
young Queen made a deep impression on her subjects, who 
thronged in vast numbers to her coronation in June 1838. 
Melbourne acted as her private secretary, and gave her an in- 
sight into the workings of English politics. His pretence of 
levity vanished before her earnestness and sense of duty, and 
he threw himself into his task with zeal. A warm friendship 
soon sprang up between them, which lasted until Melbourne's 
death. 



34 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

In 1840 the Queen married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg- 
Gotha. The prince, who was not given the title of Prince Consort 
until 1857, was handsome and well-educated. There was some 
dissatisfaction in the country at the Queen's choice of a petty 
German prince, and his rather stiff manners prevented him from 
ever becoming generally popular. His standpoint in politics, 
too, was that of the benevolent despot, and he never really 
understood English political life. As time went on, however, 
his quiet and intelligent patronage of art, science, and letters 
won him the respect of the few; while the many were delighted 
to find that he made a devoted husband and father. It was in 
private life that his good qualities emerged, and those who 
knew him best thought most highly of him. 

By this time the Melbourne ministry was tottering to its fall. 
Sinfce 1832 many important acts had been passed, which will 
be dealt with in the next chapter. Slavery had been abolished, 
the foundations of national education had been laid, the tithe 
question had been settled, factories had been regulated, and 
the penny post had been established. But these measures were 
the work of the age rather than of the ministry, and they had 
alienated many of the Whigs. The alliance between the govern- 
ment and O'Connell was disliked by most Englishmen. The 
Whigs had been remarkably unsuccessful in their foreign policy 
and their finance. They remained in office only because Peel 
was not yet ready to turn them out. In 1839 a Radical mem- 
ber said, "The right honourable member for Tamworth governs 
England; the honourable and learned member for Dublin governs 
Ireland; the Whigs govern nothing but Downing Street." At 
last in June 1841, Peel, finding that the ministry refused either 
to govern or to resign, moved and carried a direct vote of want 
of confidence. Melbourne appealed to the country, but the 
general election gave Peel a substantial majority. 

The last four years of Melbourne's ministry — the first four of 
Queen Victoria's reign — saw the culmination of social distress 
in England. A series of bad harvests raised the price of the 



ii] ENGLISH POLITICS 1832-1853 35 

quartern loaf to is. 2d. Agricultural labourers earned from 6^. to 
Qx. a week. At Rochdale 508 persons lived each on \s. a week, 
290 on 10^., and 136 on dd. A farthing herring and a half- 
pennyworth of potatoes had to serve as a meal for a family of 
seven. Few wage-earners could ever afford wheaten bread, most 
living mainly on potatoes and turnips. Some trades suffered 
from the practice known as truck, by which wages were paid in 
kind. A factory hand who had earned 3 5 J. might be given a 
piece of cloth in payment which he could not sell for more than 
I \s. The immediate hardship of the new Poor Law was more 
apparent than its ultimate benefits. Disraeli truly said that the 
country contained two nations between whom there was no in- 
tercourse and no sympathy. Unless the condition of the working 
classes could be improved, a social war seemed inevitable. 

The failure of the Whig government to do anything to solve 
the problem led to two movements, one political, the other 
economic. Artisans saw that the upper and middle classes, who 
alone had political rights, were well off, and they argued that 
if they could force them to share their power, they would also 
share their prosperity. In 1838 the London Working Men's 
Association drew up The People's Charter, demanding equal 
electoral districts, the payment of M.P.s, manhood suffrage, vote 
by ballot, annual Parliaments, and the abolition of the property 
qualification for M.P.s. These six points were advocated in the 
press, on the platform, and at torchlight meetings, and Chartism 
spread rapidly among working men. In 1839 the Chartists pre- 
sented a petition to the Commons ; but the House refused even 
to consider it. This was a bitter disappointment to thousands 
of law-abiding men who had thought that once their grievances 
were explained to Parliament they would be remedied. In their 
despair many joined the advocates of physical force. Riots broke 
out in many large towns, and the colliers of Monmouthshire 
marched in arms on Newport. They were opposed by a small 
body of troops, and retired after thirty of their number had been 
killed. Three of the ringleaders were transported, and no more 

3—2 



36 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

disturbances broke out. But Chartism lasted another nine years, 
and might have been serious in case of a foreign war. 

The economic movement was directed towards the repeal of 
the Corn Laws. At this time the country was paying ;^i 2,000,000 
a year in bread taxes alone, under the sliding scale which 
Wellington had substituted for the law of 181 5. In 1838 some 
Lancashire manufacturers formed the Anti-Corn Law League, 
which they organised on business lines. Pamphlets were distri- 
buted, public meetings were held, and large sums were collected 
for the funds. A single bazaar brought in ;^20,ooo. Two 
members of the committee, Richard Cobden and John Bright, 
soon became the chief spokesmen of the League. 

Cobden was the son of a Sussex yeoman, and became a 
partner in a Manchester cotton factory. He travelled on busi- 
ness to most European countries, the United States, Canada, 
and the East. On his travels he noticed carefully the effect of 
different fiscal systems on the standard of living of the working 
class. His observations convinced him of the bad effects of 
protection, and supplied him with a wealth of argument and 
illustration for the conversion of others. 

John Bright was the son of a Quaker cotton-spinner of 
Rochdale. Until the age of thirty he assisted his father in the 
business, reading much in his spare time, and taking a great 
interest in politics. Then, after two years of happy wedded life, 
he lost his wife. This bereavement was the turning-point of his 
career. "Mr Cobden," he afterwards wrote, "called upon me 
as his friend, and addressed me with words of condolence. 
After a time he looked up and said, 'There are thousands of 
houses in England at this moment where wives, mothers, and 
children are dying of hunger. Now,' he said, ' when the first 
paroxysm of your grief is past, I would advise you to come with 
me, and we will never rest till the Corn Law is repealed.' I 
accepted his invitation." 

The two men were perfectly fitted for their task. Cobden, 
who always spoke first, dealt with the economic side of the 



ii] ENGLISH POLITICS 1832-1853 37 

question in a clear, persuasive, almost conversational style, illus- 
trating his arguments with examples which the most ignorant 
could understand. His main point was that unless foreigners 
were allowed to send us their corn, they could not pay for our 
manufactures, and our trade necessarily languished. When 
Cobden had finished, Bright, as he himself put it, "used to get 
up and do a Httle prize-fighting." He had all the qualifications 
of a great orator — a commanding presence, a rich voice, which 
could fill the largest hall with ease, and a perfect command of 
the English language. And behind the orator there was the man, 
with his transparent honesty, his sturdy maintenance of what 
he believed to be right, and his whole-hearted denunciation of 
injustice. "This law-made famine," he thundered, "is unequal, 
sparing the rich and crushing the poor. Famine on board a 
ship would be equally borne by all. Admiral and cabin-boy 
would share the biscuits." 

The Chartists denounced the League as another middle-class 
trick, like the Reform Bill. They declared that while representa- 
tion of the workers would lead to the repeal of the Corn Laws, 
the converse would not hold good. After the Chartist failure 
of 1839, however, the League made steady progress. It was easy 
to persuade agricultural labourers that they could not be worse 
off under free trade than under protection. " I be protected," 
said a labourer, "and I be starving." Many farmers were brought 
to see that high prices meant high rents. Manufacturers needed 
no convincing. 

The situation which confronted Peel on his accession to office 
in 1841 might well have discouraged any minister. England 
was at war with China and Afghanistan, and on bad terms with 
France and the United States. At home there was distress, agi- 
tation, and a falUng revenue. On the other hand, Peel was able 
to command the services of a number of remarkably brilliant 
men, whom he was strong enough to keep under his absolute 
control. No Prime Minister has ever exercised such detailed 
supervision over all departments of state, and no Prime 



38 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

Minister has been better fitted to exercise it. Peel was the 
Ministry. 

The state of the finances first called for his attention. The 
Whigs had exhausted the old system of raising a revenue by 
means of the customs and excise. Duties were levied on 1,200 
articles, and there were no more left to be taxed. " The school- 
boy," said Sydney Smith, "whips his taxed top; the beardless 
youth manages his taxed horse with a taxed bridle on a taxed 
road. The dying Englishman, pouring his medicine which has 
paid 7 per cent, into a spoon which has paid 1 5 per cent., flings 
himself back on his chintz bed, which has paid 22 per cent., 
makes his will with an ^^8 stamp, and expires in the hands of 
an apothecary, who has paid a license of ^i^ioo for the privilege 
of putting him to death. His whole property is then immediately 
taxed from 2 to 10 per cent. Large fees are demanded for bury- 
ing him in the chancel; his virtues are handed down to posterity 
on taxed marble ; and he is then gathered to his fathers — to be 
taxed no more." 

When the Whigs had to face a deficit, the only policy they 
could think of was to increase these indirect taxes, with the 
natural result that fewer articles were bought, and the revenue 
diminished. When they were driven from office, they left a 
total deficit of ;^ 10,000,600, 

Peel determined to try the effect of the opposite policy, and 
to lower the duties. " We must make this country a cheap 
country for living," he said. In his two great Budgets of 1842 
and 1845 he aboHshed all the export duties, and the import 
duties on 430 articles. He lowered the customs on other im- 
ports so that the duties on raw materials should not exceed 
5 per cent., those on partly manufactured articles 12 per cent., 
and those on finished articles 20 per cent, of their value. To 
carry out these reforms and wipe off the deficit he reintroduced 
the income tax, which had previously been regarded simply as 
a war tax, fixing it at 7^. in the pound; He also slightly lowered 
the duties on foreign corn. 



ii] ENGLISH POLITICS 1832-1853 39 

The results of these changes were most gratifying. The 
reduction of the duties led to a great revival in trade, and bene- 
fited producers and consumers without harming the revenue. 
The trade of the country increased by 25 per cent, between 
1842 and 1844. Though, in all. Peel remitted indirect taxes 
worth p^8, 200,000, the customs and excise produced only 
;^5o, 000 less in 1847 than in 1842. 

Peel's other great financial achievement was the Bank Charter 
Act of 1844. A severe financial crisis in England, followed by 
one in the United States, attracted the attention of statesmen 
to the functions of banks. The directors of the Bank of England 
had often acted unwisely in lending money too freely when trade 
was brisk, and then suddenly refusing their loans at the first 
rumour of a panic; with the result that merchants who could 
have met their liabilities with a little temporary assistance be- 
came bankrupt, dragging their creditors after them. Peel now 
divided the Bank of England into two departments. It was to 
carry on the ordinary business of a bank as before; but the 
department for the issue of notes was to be kept separate. 
;^ 1 4, 000, 000 worth of notes might be kept in circulation on 
the security of the government's debt to the bank, and additional 
notes could only be issued to the amount of the bullion in the 
Bank's vaults. By establishing the Bank of England's right to 
issue notes upon a basis of currency and not of banking prin- 
ciples, this Act completed the work of the Act of 18 19, and 
proved of great value in later crises. 

The success of Peel's free trade policy was so marked that 
he was beginning to doubt whether he could any longer treat 
corn as an exception. His fairness of mind made him appreciate 
the arguments of Cobden and Bright, who were now in Parlia- 
ment. Protection in corn was condemned by the leading political 
economists. He had decided that he could not defend the Corn 
Laws at another general election; but other questions seemed 
more pressing at the time, and he did not inform his followers 
of his altered views. The Conservatives, however, could not help 



40 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [cH. 

seeing the direction in which he was moving. They had viewed 
with alarm his abandonment of the principle of protection, which 
he had been returned to defend. They had objected to his in- 
creased grant to the Roman Catholic seminary at Maynooth. 
They remembered how he had surrendered to O'Connell, and 
they trembled lest he should betray them into the hands of 
Cobden and Bright. The relations between Peel and his party 
were thus becoming strained when, as Bright said, "Famine 
itself, against which we had warred, joined us." 

After the prorogation of Parliament on August 7th, 1845, 
it rained steadily. By the middle of September it was plain that 
the potato crop, on which half the population of Ireland de- 
pended, would be a complete failure. As the English corn 
harvest was also ruined. Peel saw that the Corn Laws would 
have to be repealed, and that they could not be reimposed. 
Cobden and Bright seized their opportunity, and addressed 
huge meetings throughout the country. The subscriptions to 
the League this year amounted to ;i^25o,ooo. Peel summoned 
the cabinet to meet on October 31st, and tried to persuade it 
of the necessity of repeal. But the majority proved obdurate, 
and on December 5 th he resigned. The Queen sent for Lord 
John Russell, who failed to form a ministry and " handed back 
with courtesy the poisoned chalice to Sir Robert." Out of loyalty 
to the Queen, Peel consented to make another attempt, and 
secured the assistance of all his former colleagues save one. 
" The Queen's government must be carried on," said WeUington. 
" We have done all that we could do for the landed interest. 
Now we must do all that we can for the Queen." 

When Parliament met on January 22nd, 1846, Peel and 
Russell gave a brief explanation of the events of the recess. The 
House listened without much apparent interest, and a lukewarm 
debate seemed likely to follow, when Disraeli rose and made an 
eventful speech. 

Benjamin Disraeli was the son of a Jew who had come to 
England in the middle of the i8th century. The elder Disraeli 



ii] ENGLISH POLITICS 1832-1853 41 

was a great collector of books, and allowed his son the free run 
of his library. This encouraged his natural literary gifts, and he 
soon became well known as a novelist. He determined to enter 
Parliament, and after an unsuccessful attempt as a Radical, he 
obtained a seat in 1837 as a Conservative. When he rose to 
make his first speech he was dressed in "a bottle-green frock- 
coat and a waistcoat of white of the Dick Swiveller pattern, the 
front of which exhibited a network of glittering chains. Large 
fancy-pattern pantaloons, and a black tie, above which no shirt 
collar was visible, completed the outward man. His counten- 
ance was lividly pale, set out by a pair of intensely black eyes, 
and a broad but not very high forehead, overhung by clustering 
ringlets of coal-black hair, which, combed away from the right 
temple, fell in bunches of well-oiled small ringlets over his left 
cheek." The House refused to take him seriously, and laughed 
him down. "Though I am forced to sit down now," he ex- 
claimed, "the time will come when you will hear me." He was 
bitterly disappointed when Peel overlooked him in forming his 
administration, and attacked him with a freedom of invective 
rare even in that age. 

He now seized his opportunity with unerring instinct. The 
country gentlemen were consumed with rage at Peel's desertion, 
but few of them were ready speakers. Disraeli made himself 
their mouthpiece. He compared Peel to the Turkish admiral 
who surrendered his fleet to the enemy because of his objection 
to war, whose excuse was accepted, and who was made First 
Lord of the Admiralty by the new Sultan. He placed his con- 
duct on a level with that of a nurse who had dashed out the 
brains of her charge. Every taunt was greeted with cheers from 
the Conservative members, who saw in Disraeli only their hired 
bravo, and did not realise that this was his first step towards the 
leadership of the party. 

In spite of the opposition of the Protectionists, the repeal 
of the Corn Laws was carried in the Commons by the Whigs 
and those of Peel's followers who remained faithful to him. 



42 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

Wellington told the Lords that they could do nothing without 
the House of Commons and the Crown, and they read the bill a 
third time on June 25th, 1846. That same night in the Commons 
a combination of Protectionists and Liberals threw out Peel's 
Irish Coercion Bill. He accepted his fate with dignity. In his 
last speech as minister he said : — " I shall leave a name execrated 
by every monopolist who maintains Protection for his own 
individual benefit; but it may be that I shall leave a name 
sometimes remembered with expressions of good-will in the 
abodes of those whose lot it is to labour, and to earn their 
daily bread by the sweat of their brows, when they shall recruit 
their exhausted strength with abundant and untaxed food, the 
sweeter because no longer leavened with a sense of injustice." 

Though Peel had to resign office, he remained the greatest 
force in the state until his death. On June 29th, 1850, he was 
thrown from his horse, and three days later died of his 
injuries. 

In forming an estimate of Peel, one is apt to dwell unduly 
on the two occasions on which he astounded his followers by 
proclaiming that he had altered his views on questions of the 
greatest importance. There is no doubt that Peel was not a 
great party leader. Though he possessed warm sympathies, his 
demeanour was shy and reserved. When the Queen first met 
him, she thought him "such a cold, odd man." He did not 
frequent the smoking-room of the House. He took no pains to 
court the mediocrities of his party. His mind was too judicial 
for their liking. He was always open to conviction, even by 
a political opponent. He was willing to examine any argument, 
whatever its source. He had accepted his Tory principles on 
trust from his father, and when circumstances forced him to 
examine them for himself, he found himself obliged to discard 
them. In the case of Catholic Emancipation and the repeal of 
the Corn Laws, the state of Ireland forced him to act at once, 
without preparing his followers for his change of front. His 
duty to his party came second to his duty to his country. He 



ii] ENGLISH POLITICS 1832-1853 43 

was, as Guizot said, "the most liberal of Conservatives, the 
most conservative of Liberals, and the most capable man of all 
in both parties." It may seem that he would have done equally 
well if he had begun his career as a Whig. In that case, how- 
ever, he would not have carried the moderate Conservatives 
with him. In his life-time it was necessary to make the Tory 
party less reactionary: there was little danger that the Whigs 
would prove rash innovators. 

It is sometimes urged that Peel was not an original genius, 
that all he did was to adopt other men's ideas. There is some 
truth in this criticism ; but it must be remembered that ideas 
were common at that time: the great difficulty was to translate 
them into Acts of Parliament. That was what Peel did: he 
carried all his great measures in the exact form in which he 
had planned them. When Peel became Prime Minister, the 
country was sinking deeper and deeper into misery and wretch- 
edness; he did as much as any administrator could to lift her 
out of the slough. No English statesman has deserved better 
of his country. 

After the break-up of the Conservative party there followed 
a period of confusion in English politics. The Whigs had 
helped Peel to abolish the Corn Laws, and they in turn were 
supported by the Conservative Free Traders until the cause 
of protection was dead and buried. After that the Peelites 
broke up as a party, some returning to the fold of Conservatism, 
others gravitating towards Liberalism. Then the greater im- 
portance of foreign affairs and the predominance of Palmerston 
caused a stagnation of party warfare. 

On the resignation of Peel in June 1846, the Queen sent 
for Lord John Russell. Circumstances had changed since his 
failure to form an administration in the previous December. 
Neither group of the Conservative party could carry on the 
government, and Lord John was the only alternative. 

The main interest of his ministry lies in foreign affairs and 
their effect upon English politics. The events of 1848, the year 



44 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

of revolutions, led to a revival of Chartism. A meeting was 
arranged on Kennington Common, whence the Chartists were 
to march to the House of Commons with a monster petition, 
said to contain over 5,700,000 signatures. The government 
forbade the march, enrolled 200,000 special constables, and 
entrusted the defence of the capital to Wellington, who posted 
troops out of sight near the strategic points. These precautions 
overawed the organisers of the demonstration, who took the 
petition to the House in three cabs. There it was examined 
by clerks, who found that it contained less than 2,000,000 sig- 
natures, among which were those of the Queen, Prince Albert, 
and Wellington ! The Commons made this an excuse for ridi- 
culing the whole movement, of which this was the end. 

Chartism was not laughed out of court : it perished because 
the growing prosperity of the country removed the economic 
distress which had given birth to it. It is often pointed out that 
all the demands of the Chartists have since been granted save 
annual Parliaments, which are no longer necessary, as Members 
are more under the control of their constituents. This does not 
prove, however, that those demands could have been granted 
with safety in the thirties and forties. One is bound to feel for 
the ignorance, the squalor, and the destitution of the artisans of 
this period ; but their very claims on our sympathy are reasons 
why they could not be entrusted with the franchise. Education, 
an improvement in the conditions of labour, and a diminution 
in its hours were needed to fit them for citizenship. 

The importance of foreign affairs at this time naturally 
brought the Foreign Secretary into prominence. Lord Palmer- 
ston's foreign policy will be described in another chapter. 
Here it is necessary to observe that he was of a sanguine and 
headstrong disposition, and that he fought for the independence 
of ministers in their own departments. His support of weak 
nations against the strong, and of the rights of peoples against 
autocracy was popular in the country, and gave him a strong 
position against the attempts of Russell to keep him in check. 



ii] ENGLISH POLITICS 1832-1853 45 

The Queen objected strongly to the spirit and the manner of 
his policy, and repeatedly complained to the Prime Minister 
that she received the drafts of important despatches when the 
originals had gone. Palmerston promised to reform ; but went 
on in the same way as before. In December 185 1, news 
reached England of Louis Napoleon's coup d'Stat. The Queen 
and the Cabinet told Palmerston to make no comment on this 
event until the Cabinet had been given time for deliberation. 
Palmerston, however, held a conversation with the French 
ambassador in which he expressed his entire approval of the 
step. Lord John immediately asked the Queen to dismiss his 
unruly subordinate, and read in the Commons a memorandum 
written by her the year before, in which she complained bit- 
terly of Palmerston's conduct. Palmerston made little effort to 
defend himself, and most men thought his career ended. He 
realised, however, that his unpopularity at court would do him 
little harm in the country, and in the following February he 
carried an amendment to a government measure which led to 
Lord John's resignation. "I have had my tit for tat with John 
Russell," he wrote to his brother, "and I turned him out on 
Friday last." 

Lord Derby was called in, and after failing to secure the 
help of the Peelites, formed a purely Conservative administra- 
tion, with Disraeli as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader 
of the Commons. As his followers were in a minority in the 
Commons, he wound up the business of the session and 
appealed to the country. 

Before the new Parliament met; Wellington had passed 
away in his sleep, at the age of 83. His career as a soldier 
does not fall within the scope of this book. He was not a 
great politician. He had not the imagination to foresee how his 
policy would affect men. He was not in sympathy with the 
new England, and the signs of the times meant little to him. 
But he was conscious of his limitations, and was willing to take 
the advice of a man like Peel who possessed the qualities which 



46 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

he lacked. His greatness was moral, not intellectual. Everyone 
respected his simplicity, his loyalty, his strength of purpose. 
His character was a valuable asset to Peel in 1829 and 1846; 
for no one could attribute his action to self-interest. His funeral 
on November i8th, 1852 was one of the most magnificent in our 
history. His death was felt as a personal loss by thousands who 
had never seen him. England mourned, not for the soldier — 
she had not needed him for a generation — but for the man. 

The general election made it clear that experience had 
convinced the country of the benefits of free trade. Disraeli 
saw that a revival of protection was out of the question ; but in 
his Budget he attempted to redeem his promises to the land- 
lords by halving the malt tax. On December 17th, 1852, the 
House rejected his proposals, and Lord Derby resigned. 

The instability of ministries was becoming a national danger. 
The country was suspicious of the designs of Napoleon III, 
who had just proclaimed himself Emperor, and was anxious for 
a strong government. At last a coalition was formed between 
the Whigs and the Peelites. Though the latter were only some 
thirty strong in the Commons, they included the most brilliant 
members of Peel's cabinet. They were at one with the Whigs 
in supporting free trade and moderate reform, and there seemed 
no obstacle to their fusion. The Peelite leader, Lord Aberdeen, 
became Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston went to the Home 
Office, and Lord John Russell accepted a seat in the Cabinet 
without portfolio. To Gladstone, as Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer, fell the task of framing a Budget in place of Disraeli's. 

William Ewart Gladstone was the son of a Scottish merchant 
who had settled at Liverpool. He made a reputation as a 
classic and a debater at Eton and Christ Church, and pntered 
Parliament as a Tory in 1832. In 1841 Peel made him Vice- 
President of the Board of Trade, where he gained a valuable 
insight into the commerce of the nation. In 1843 he was made 
President, and given a seat in the Cabinet. He was devotedly 
attached to his chief, and warmly resented the revolt of the 



ii] ENGLISH POLITICS 1832-1853 47 

Protectionists in 1846. When Disraeli had finished explaining 
his Budget, at two o'clock in the morning, Gladstone jumped 
to his feet, and made one of the most brilliant extempore 
speeches ever heard in Parliament. The knowledge of finance 
he displayed on this occasion marked him as Disraeli's fitting 
successor at the Exchequer. 

Gladstone devoted much time and thought to the Budget of 
1853, which almost completed the simplification of the tariff" 
begun by Peel. He abolished the duties on half-manufactured 
articles, reduced those on articles of food', and simplified the 
rest, which he retained for revenue, not for protection. He ex- 
tended the legacy duties to real as well as personal property. 
The income tax was to be retained for seven years, and then 
abolished. 

These are but the outlines of the scheme which it took him 
three hours to explain to the Cabinet. His colleagues decided 
to stand or fall by the Budget as a whole, and on April i8th, 
1853, Gladstone made the first of his great Budget speeches. 
For nearly five hours the House listened to him with rapt 
attention, while he showed how his proposals would affect the 
life of the people. Many of his hearers found for the first 
time that facts and figures could possess an absorbing interest, 
Gladstone was already known as one of the finest orators in 
Parliament; he was now seen to be a constructive statesman. 
Aberdeen said that he had given a strength and lustre to the 
administration which it could not have derived from anything 
else. 

Gladstone's hopes of national retrenchment and diminished 
taxation were blasted by the Crimean War. 

^ Gladstone lowered the duty on tea, which had previously been dearer 
than gin, from 2s. 2\d. to is. per lb. 



CHAPTER III 

THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND 1815-1853 

It has been seen in the preceding chapters that EngHsh poHtics 
between Waterloo and the Crimean War had a sombre back- 
ground of social distress, which often produced political discon- 
tent and agitation. The object of this chapter is to describe 
this background in greater detail, and to indicate the causes of 
improvement. 

From the social standpoint one of the greatest evils of the 
Industrial Revolution was the fact that women, and even 
children, could attend to the new machines as well as men. 
. A factory hand usually began to work at the age of five or six, 
and was condemned to spend thirteen or fourteen hours a day 
in a low-roofed, dark, and insanitary mill. He was allowed 
half an hour for dinner, and the same for tea; but in that time 
he had to clean his machine. If the machinery stopped for any 
reason, he was forced to work overtime to make up the loss. If 
he became drowsy and dozed over his work, he was in danger 
of being drawn into the cogs of the unfenced machinery. 
Every year a large number of preventable accidents occurred; 
but few employers went to the expense of safeguarding work- 
men who could easily be replaced. 

The state of things in mines was even worse; though the 
different coalfields varied considerably. In South Wales chil- 
dren regularly began work underground at the age of five, and 
many were carried to their work at the age of four. In some 
districts women and girls dragged heavy loads of coal by means 
of a chain fastened to a belt round the waist. In many pits 
water dripped steadily from the roof, and some seams were 
only 22 inches high, with perhaps a foot of water in them. 



CH. Ill] THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND 1815-1853 49 

When the factory hand or miner returned home after a long 
day's work, he found little in his surroundings to refresh him. 
The new factory towns had sprung up without the interference of 
building regulations or sanitary inspectors. The laws of hygiene 
were completely ignored. No provision was made for the re- 
moval of refuse. Bethnal Green was without a single sewer. 
The wells from which most towns obtained their water supply 
were often contaminated by graveyards, which existed in the 
most crowded quarters. There was no water to spare for cleans- 
ing houses or streets. The poor were crowded into dark courts 
and alleys. In Sunderland some houses had 150 inmates, who 
had to sleep five or six in a bed, in their living-rooms. Rural 
districts escaped most of these evils; but they also suffered 
from over-crowding — one village had an average of 36 persons 
in each cottage. 

This disregard of all sanitary precautions had -its inevitable 
result. Throughout the i8th century there were far more 
deaths than births in London. During the general prosperity 
which accompanied the Great War public health was good; 
for a well-fed person does not readily succumb to disease. But 
in the period of industrial depression which followed, semi- 
starvation was added to lack of air, light, and cleanliness. 
Typhus appeared in 18 16, and remained endemic in the slums 
of the large towns. Typhoid, small-pox, and influenza followed. 
Cholera made its way from India in 183 1-2, and swept away 
some 50,000 people. On its return in 1848 it claimed even 
more victims. In 1842 the average length of life among the 
professional classes in London was exactly twice that of the 
working classes. In the same year Glasgow had a death-rate 
of 40 per thousand. (Its present death-rate is 21 per thou- 
sand.) 

In the early years of the 19th century Parliament made no 
serious attempt to deal with these problems of national welfare. 
In the Middle Ages the gilds had exercised an effective control 
over the conditions of labour. In the break-up of medieval 



50 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

society in the Tudor period Parliament had re-enacted the 
most useful of the gild regulations. The Elizabethan Statute 
of Apprentices aimed at preventing the exploitation of child 
labour, by insisting on a seven years' apprenticeship. After the 
Civil War its provisions were rarely enforced, and they never 
applied to the new industries. When Parliament was asked to 
revive its provisions at the beginning of the 19th century, it was 
dissuaded by the doctrinaire economists. Adam Smith had 
pointed out that the state ought not to attempt to encourage 
industry and commerce; since, if free competition were allowed, 
self-interest would lead men to make bargains which would 
profit them; and if the individuals composing the state pros- 
pered, the state as a whole would prosper. (He demolished 
the old fallacy that one of the parties to a business transaction 
was bound to gain at the expense of the other.) This doctrine 
of laissez faire, which Adam Smith advanced at a time when 
commerce was hampered by mischievous restrictions, and which 
he put forward as a general rule, to which there were excep- 
tions, was invested by his successors with the force of a law of 
nature. They insisted that state interference could not possibly do 
good, and would certainly do considerable harm. They pointed 
out that England was now faced with foreign competition, and 
they argued that shorter hours would mean a diminished output 
and less wages. Under their influence Parliament allowed un- 
restricted competition during the first third of the century, and 
gave capital free play. 

The Reform Bill marks the beginning of a new epoch. We 
have seen that before that measure improvements had been 
made in the fiscal system, in criminal law and practice, and in 
the political status of Roman Catholics; but these changes 
were the work of high officials. Now Parliament was influenced 
by public opinion, and a private member who had strong 
outside support could force measures on the government. In 
all directions there was a tendency towards humanity and 
decency. The upper classes, in particular, were giving up the 



Ill] THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND 1815-1853 51 

fashionable vices of the i8th century. Three-bottle men were 
becoming rare, and though hard drinkers were still to be found, 
they did not consider it a point of honour to get drunk every 
night. In the twenties duelHng was still common. From 18 15 
to 1830 Castlereagh, Canning, and Wellington were responsible 
in turn for the government of England, and they all fought 
duels. In the thirties duelling died out under the pressure of 
public opinion, and in 1844 the amended articles of war 
stated that any officer who fought a duel would be cashiered. 
Parliament prohibited the baiting of bulls and bears, and 
societies were formed for the prevention of cruelty to children 
and animals. In 1833 Wilberforce learnt on his death-bed 
that his life's work had been accomplished, and that slavery in 
the British Dominions had been abolished. Slaves over the 
age of six were to be prepared for freedom by a seven years' 
apprenticeship, and Parliament voted their owners ;^2o,ooo,ooo 
as compensation. Even so, some planters treated their appren- 
tices worse than slaves, because they were no longer their 
property. A female apprentice in Jamaica was flogged to death 
on the treadmill, and the coroner's jury found that she had 
died "by the visitation of God" ! Cruelties of this kind aroused 
such indignation in England that the colonists finally gave way, 
and freed all apprentices from August ist, 1838. 

In such an age it was not to be expected that the abuses of 
the factory system would pass unnoticed. Novelists like Charles 
Dickens and Charles Reade, and poets like Mrs Browning and 
Ebenezer Elliott, stirred the conscience of the nation. They 
brushed aside the plea that manufacturers would be ruined if 
they were forced to consult the interests of their employees. 
They insisted that the factory child was not a free agent, 
capable of making a fair bargain with his employer, and that 
even the grown-up artisan was forced to accept his master's 
terms or starve. They attributed the degradation of the working 
classes to their environment. It was often possible to tell a 
man's trade from the nature of the disease or deformity from 

4—2 



52 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

which he was suffering. Thousands of miners had never heard 
of Scotland, Ireland, or London. The number of criminal 
convictions increased nearly tenfold between 1805 and 1842, 
when there was one convict in every three hundred, and one 
pauper in every eleven of the population. The people of 
England were being distorted in body, mind, and soul; and 
laissez faire was doing nothing to check the process. 

The authors who were thus trying to mould public opinion 
were able to appeal not only to humanitarianism, but to ex- 
perience. A practical demonstration had been given that im- 
proved conditions and shorter hours of work did not entail 
economic loss. At the very end of the i8th century Robert 
Owen, the son of a Montgomery saddler, acquired the manage- 
ment of the New Lanark mills, where he introduced a series of 
sweeping reforms. Only children over ten years of age were 
allowed to work; before that age they were educated in infant 
schools. The working day was reduced from iif to io|- hours. 
Wages were paid even when the mill was closed. As a result of 
the improvement in their surroundings and physique, the em- 
ployees were able to do as much work as before, and Owen's 
reforms were an advantage even from a mercenary standpoint. 
His experiments attracted much attention; his factory was 
visited by the Tsar Nicholas shortly before his accession; and 
he enjoyed the patronage of the Duke of Kent. 

The cause of factory legislation was championed in the 
House of Commons by Lord Ashley, better known by his later 
title of the Earl of Shaftesbury. Other men had a genius for 
war, art, or literature; Lord Ashley had a genius for philanthropy. 
No man ever sympathized more deeply with the needy and the 
oppressed, and no man ever gave more freely of his time and 
money. But Ashley's charity was not of the sort which corrupts 
and enervates its recipients: he was anxious to help men to 
help themselves. Becoming convinced that national supervision 
of factories was necessary, he joined the small band of M.P.s 
who were working for that object. His industry in collecting 



Ill] THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND 1815-1853 53 

facts and his skill in marshalling them, his rank, and, most of 
all, his character soon made him the spokesman of the move- 
ment. His name will always be associated with the Factory 
Acts. Between the Reform Bill and the Crimean War the 
worst evils of the factory system were remedied by law. By the 
Act of 1844 children between the ages of eight and thirteen 
were not to work more than six and a half hours a day, and were 
to attend school. Work in factories was limited to the time 
between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., or 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., with an hour 
and a half for meals, and a half holiday on Saturdays. Danger- 
ous machinery was to be railed off, and a standard of sanitation 
was established. Home Office inspectors were to go round the 
country to see that these regulations were observed. Boys 
under ten years of age and females were forbidden to work 
underground, and inspectors of coal mines were empowered to 
frame regulations for the prevention of accidents. 

These laws did not cause the fall in wages which had been 
prophesied. Since the introduction of expensive machinery, 
wages formed a smaller part of the cost of production, and the 
old hours of work had been so long that the quality of the work 
had suffered. The Factory Acts were passed in spite of the 
opposition of the leading statesmen of both parties. They 
were a notable triumph of common sense over official con- 
servatism, and afford a practical justification of the Reform 
Bill. 

The main credit for the improvement of public health 
must be given to Edwin Chadwick. As a member of the 
Royal Commission on Factories of 1833, ^^^ ^^ ^^^ W^^ 
secretary of the permanent Poor Law Commission, he was 
impressed by the awful waste of life caused by the insanitary 
conditions prevailing in towns. The evidence he collected did 
not induce Parliament to move in the matter until the second 
visitation of cholera in 1848. Then a General Board of Health 
was set up to advise Parliament and the local Boards of Health, 
which were made compulsory where the death-rate was over 23 



54 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

per thousand, and optional where it was under. As members of 
the central Board, Chadwick and Ashley insisted on a good water 
supply, the proper disposal of sewage, and the abolition of 
intramural burials. They encountered great opposition from 
water companies, builders, and undertakers; and the central 
Board came to an end in 1854. But the local Boards remained 
in existence ; many of them had appointed medical ofificers of 
health ; and the public were now beginning to realise the solid- 
arity of the nation in the matter of health. It is worth noting 
that these reforms were made possible by the Municipal Corpo- 
rations Act of 1835. 

The state had partly recognised its duty towards the insane 
by the provision of asylums, but these institutions resembled 
the old-fashioned prisons in their harsh methods of discipline, 
the ignorance of their staff, and their total lack of any reforming 
purpose. In 1839 Dr Conolly, one of the founders of the 
British Medical Association, was made medical officer at 
Hanwell Asylum. There he found six hundred instruments of 
restraint — straps, hand-cuffs, coercion-chairs, strait-waistcoats, 
leg-locks, and the like. He immediately abolished all mechan- 
ical restraint and introduced humane and sympathetic methods 
of treatment, thus converting the asylum from a prison into 
a hospital, where lunacy could be studied by doctors. His 
methods were soon adopted throughout the land, and afterwards 
became universal in civilised countries. 

Doctors were reducing the burden of human suffering in 
other ways. Vaccination, which Jenner had discovered in 
1798, was made free in 1840. Surgeons and dentists first used 
nitrous oxide and ether in 1846, and in the next year Simpson 
discovered the anaesthetic properties of chloroform. In 1851 
Parliament halved the work of doctors by abolishing the 
window tax. 

It is convenient here to consider certain social legislation 
which has not been dealt with in the preceding chapters, be- 
cause it did not affect the fate of ministries. 



Ill] THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND 1815-1853 55 

One of the striking features of the first half of the century 
was the growth of the daily press. In 18 15 each newspaper 
had to bear a fourpenny stamp, and to pay a tax of is. 6d. for 
each advertisement. The paper itself was subjected to a heavy 
excise duty. Only well-to-do people could afford to buy 
newspapers at sevenpence a copy, and the circulation of the 
Times (printed by steam since 18 14) was only 5,000. The 
Six Acts of 1 8 19 subjected newspapers to a harsher law of 
libel; but after the death of Castlereagh the government made 
no attempt to exercise a censorship. The stamp duty was 
reduced to a penny in 1836, and abolished in 1855. The tax 
on advertisements was given up in 1853, and the excise on 
paper in 1861. The consequent cheapness of daily papers 
made them a "fourth estate of the realm." In 1850 towns 
with a population of 10,000 were empowered to levy a half- 
penny rate for the establishment and maintenance of free 
libraries. 

At the beginning of the century the procedure for the 
recovery of debts was clumsy and expensive: one creditor 
spent ;!^ioo in recovering a debt of ;£ig. If the debtor did 
not pay, he was sent to prison until he could. It is obvious 
that he could not earn the money in prison, and that he would 
remain there for life, unless he could find a friend to assist him. 
At the end of George IV's reign 6,000 debtors were in prison 
in London alone. At Ely a man was chained on his back to 
the ground for a debt of y. c^^d. Such a system was singularly 
ill-adapted to the needs of a commercial nation. By the 
beginning of the reign of Victoria, traders were allowed 
to become bankrupt, without imprisonment, for debts over 
;^ioo; but the term "trader" was sometimes narrowly defined 
by judges. In 1844 judges were given the right to declare any 
insolvent debtor a bankrupt, and imprisonment was altogether 
abolished in the case of debts below ;^2o. An act of 1846 
revived the County Courts, giving them jurisdiction in cases 
where the debt did not exceed p^20. 



56 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

The position of criminals was also improved in this period. 
Offences, such as night poaching, which were not considered 
worthy of death, had hitherto been punished by transportation. 
The convict was first confined in a prison hulk, which was a 
floating hell of disease and vice, and was then sent out to New 
South Wales in a crowded ship. If he survived the long voyage, 
he worked out his sentence, and was handed over to a colonist 
as master. When he disobeyed orders, he could be flogged or 
given hard labour on the roads. If he remained unruly, he was 
sent to Norfolk Island, where existence was made so terrible that 
he probably committed a capital offence as a means of escape. 
A commission appointed in 1837 reported strongly against the 
system ; but little was done until the colonists themselves set 
their faces against it. In 1853 and 1857 acts were passed which 
substituted penal servitude at home for transportation. 

The tolerant spirit of the age was shown in two acts passed 
in 1836, by which Dissenters could celebrate marriages without 
the aid of a Church of England clergyman, and tithes were 
compulsorily commuted. The University of London^ which 
was founded in that year, imposed no religious tests from the 
first. It was in this period that the foundations were laid of a 
national system of elementary education (see p. 151). The 
throwing open of the Indian Civil Service to competition in 
1853 struck a blow at jobbery and gave an incentive to hard 
work. 

We have seen above that the inventions of the i8th century 
were indirectly responsible for much distress by their dislocation 
of the labour market. We have now to turn to an invention 
which did more than anything else to make the working classes 
prosperous. The locomotive steam-engine was not invented by 
Stephenson, but it was he who made it a practical success. 
The son of a Northumbrian miner, George Stephenson made 
the most of his scanty opportunities of acquiring knowledge, 
and became an efficient engine-wright. In 1814 he completed 
his first locomotive. In 1823 he became engineer of the 



Ill] THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND 1815-1853 57 

projected railway between Stockton and Darlington. Its pro- 
moters had failed at first to obtain Parliamentary sanction for 
their scheme, as a certain peer had feared that it would 
disturb his fox-coverts; and the railway as finally approved had 
to make a detour to avoid the coverts of another nobleman. 
The directors intended using horses, or a cable attached to a 
stationary steam-engine, but Stephenson persuaded them Jo 
allow him to build locomotives. Their hesitation may be 
pardoned when one finds the Quarterly Review saying of a 
proposed line to Woolwich at this time : " The gross exaggera- 
tion of the powers of the locomotive steam-engine may delude 
for a time, but must end in the mortification of those concerned. 
We would back old Father Thames against the Woolwich 
Railway for any sum." Here we need historical sympathy. It 
is easy, after the event, to smile at these noblemen and writers 
for resisting an invention which was to confer enormous benefits 
on them; but they possessed no monopoly of short-sightedness, 
and they were not short-sighted in every respect. At present 
we are the judges of the past; our own generation will soon 
come up for trial. 

The Stockton and Darlington line, though a success, 
attracted little attention outside the immediate neighbourhood; 
but Stephenson's next enterprise, the Liverpool and Manchester 
Railway, aroused great interest. The opening in 1830 was well 
advertised by the presence of Wellington, who presided over 
the ceremony, by the fatal accident to Huskisson, who failed to 
get out of the way of " the Rocket", and by the speed of thirty- 
five miles an hour at which it conveyed him to hospital. 
Companies were soon formed to build other railways, and 
Stephenson and his son Robert were offered more work than 
they could undertake. 

Parliament was so wedded to the idea of free competition 
that it at first imagined that railways could be treated Hke 
turnpike roads, and that private engines and coaches could be 
used on them. The influence of the road is also seen in the 



58 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

design of the first railway carriages, which were modelled on 
the stage-coach. For some time railway companies neglected 
third-class passengers, who were placed in open trucks in 
cattle-trains, and often shunted into a siding for a couple of 
hours. When they finally reached their destination, the com- 
pany's porters were not allowed to handle their luggage. The 
Cheap Trains Act of 1844 insisted that at least one train a day 
should be run from every station in each direction, providing 
covered carriages at a fare of a penny a mile. 

Steam navigation kept pace with steam transport on land. 
In 18 1 9 the Atlantic was first crossed by a steamship, which 
used her engines only as an auxiliary when the wind did not 
serve. In 1838 it was crossed in fifteen days by a vessel which 
relied on steam alone. Iron ships were now being built, and 
the screw soon came into general use. 

The spread of railways made possible the introduction of 
penny postage. Under the old system, the charge for a letter 
varied with the distance it was carried; so that the postman 
spent much time in calculating and collecting the fees. When 
it cost a shilling to send a letter from London to Durham, few 
could afford to have many correspondents, and many of those 
who could afford it avoided payment by getting their letters 
" franked " by a member of Parliament. In a pamphlet entitled 
Post Office Reform, Rowland Hill urged that if a uniform 
charge of a penny were made, to be prepaid by the sender, so 
many more letters would be written that the Post Office would 
not lose. His scheme was scoffed at by experts, and regarded 
with indifference by the House of Commons; but it was eagerly 
welcomed by the country. In 1839 i^ was referred to a select 
committee, which reported in its favour, and in 1840 it was 
carried into effect. It need hardly be said that it was a success 
almost from the first. Three years later the first public telegraph 
office was opened in England. 

The improvement in the means of communication benefited 
almost every class and individual in the kingdom. Travelling 



Ill] THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND 1815-1853 59 

was made cheap, easy and comfortable. A new field was 
opened for the investment of capital and the employment of 
labour. Man had been ousted from his place in the industrial 
world by the textile machines; but adult males were now 
required as boiler-makers, engine-drivers, stokers, and dockers. 
The cheapness of ocean travelling enabled over two million 
persons to emigrate in the eight years before the Crimean War, 
and made labour less of a drug on the market. The coal and 
iron trade was given a direct impetus. The annual production 
of coal increased fbur-fold, and that of pig-iron eleven-fold, 
during the first half of the century. Between 1828 and 1845 
the blast furnace was improved, so as to produce cast iron by 
means of a hot air blast, which was heated by the unburnt 
gases from the top of the furnace. Every other industry gained 
indirectly; since the railways brought coal to manufacturers, 
and took their products to new markets, and to old markets at 
a lower rate. The penny post and telegraph became the 
nervous system of commerce, while the railways acted as its 
arteries, bringing fresh life wherever they went. The Industrial 
Revolution was given another impetus, and the increased 
production led to new inventions. Even farmers gained, and 
enjoyed a season of prosperity until the seventies, when transport 
became so cheap as to expose them to the competition of the 
western states of America. 

In the generation after the repeal of the Corn Laws, the 
national wealth increased more rapidly than ever before or 
since, and all sections of the community shared in this pros- 
perity. We have seen that this result was due to many causes, 
some of which were conflicting. The doctrinaire economists 
and the manufacturers who organised the Anti-Corn Law 
League succeeded in introducing laissez faire in trade, but 
failed to preserve it in industry. The country gentlemen, who 
had vainly resisted the repeal of the Corn Laws, supported the 
Factory Acts, partly out of revenge, partly out of conviction. 
Statesmen and inventors, civil servants and authors, philan- 



6o GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. hi 

thropists and doctors had worked for England in their several 
ways, and had made it a better country to Hve in. The general 
prosperity made men think that a better age was dawning for 
the whole world. In 1851 the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park 
seemed the beginning of a period when nations would strive to 
excel only in the arts of peace. But these dreams were soon to 
be dispelled. The generation of almost uninterrupted peace 
after Waterloo was to be succeeded by a series of wars in which 
all the great powers of the world were involved. 



CHAPTER IV 

FOREIGN RELATIONS TO THE END OF THE 
CRIMEAN WAR 

The history of Europe in the 19th century was profoundly 
influenced by the principles of the French Revolution and the 
career of Napoleon. The revolutionary thinkers taught that 
the state should be identical with the nation, that all its 
members should receive equal treatment, and that they should 
be given complete liberty of action, save where the very 
existence of the state was concerned. From one standpoint the 
ideas of the Revolution were not new; but they had been 
ignored by kings and statesmen. The principle of nationality was 
neglected in the treaties of the i8th century, which handed pro- 
vinces from one ruler to another without the slightest regard for 
the history, race, language, or religion of their inhabitants. The 
laws of every country dealt unequally with members of different 
classes, religions, or even districts. The state claimed the right 
to interfere with the liberty of its subjects in all their actipns. 
When France proclaimed the abolition of privilege, and showed 
the power of a free nation in arms, she found sympathisers in 
every country in Europe, and at the outset her armies were 
welcomed as deliverers. 

At first sight it seems that Napoleon checked the spread of 
these ideas. His design of making Europe into a despotic 
empire left little room for nationality or liberty. But the 
pressure of his rule tended to weld together all classes in the 
nations under his sway, and to produce a consciousness of 
national unity. In the War of Liberation the rulers appealed 
to this feeling; and though after his overthrow they tried to 
stamp it out, it still endured as a force which was to mould 



62 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

the destiny of Europe. Countries which had previously been 
misgoverned gained enormously from Napoleon's administra- 
tion, which was efificient and intelligent. By linking up all 
parts of the country by new roads and canals, by his encourage- 
ment of commerce, and by his establishment of a strong 
central government. Napoleon did much to break down local 
and separatist tendencies, and to create or revive national 
feeling. When, on his downfall, the old rulers and the old 
abuses were restored, men no longer acquiesced in them as 
necessary evils, which long tradition had established as an 
inevitable part of their world. The spell had been broken ; the 
torpor of habit was ended; a new standard of criticism was 
provided. 

The sovereigns and diplomatists who met at Vienna in 
1814 ignored these facts and attempted to restore the old order 
as far as possible. The Holy Roman Empire had crumbled 
into dust in the shock of the Napoleonic wars, and in its place 
was established the German Confederation, whose members 
were united by the loosest of ties. The Emperor of Austria 
and the kings of Great Britain, Prussia, Denmark, and the 
Netherlands possessed dominions both within and without this 
confederation ; so that German unity seemed as far off as ever. 
Prussia surrendered part of her Polish dominions to Russia, and 
received compensation on both sides of the Rhine, thus 
becoming more clearly the rival of France. The Austrian 
Netherlands were joined to Holland, as a barrier against French 
aggression. The king of Denmark had remained faithful to 
Napoleon to the last, and was accordingly deprived of Norway, 
which was handed over to Sweden. The petty Italian rulers 
were restored, the republic of Venice was given to Austria as 
compensation for the southern Netherlands, and the republic 
of Genoa was handed over to Piedmont, to strengthen her as a 
buffer against France. 

Before the Congress of Vienna separated in 181 5, an attempt 
was made to establish a concert of Europe which would keep the 



iv] FOREIGN RELATIONS 63 

peace for the future, and prevent a recurrence of the bloodshed 
and anarchy of the last quarter of a century. On the invita- 
tion of the Tsar Alexander, the great powers formed the Holy 
Alliance, promising to adjust all their differences in accordance 
with the principles of the Christian religion. The control of 
its policy soon passed into the hands of Metternich, the 
Austrian Foreign Minister. The Austrian empire, that con- 
glomeration of fragments of races, had most to fear from 
national and democratic aspirations, and Metternich used the 
Holy Alliance as an international engine for crushing these 
ideas wherever they showed themselves. 

Castlereagh had at first welcomed the formation of the 
Alliance as a force which made for international stability; but 
when he saw it interfere in the internal affairs of the smaller 
states, he protested, and refused Great Britain's consent to its 
actions. His remonstrances, however, were of little practical 
effect, and popular movements were stamped out wherever 
they appeared. 

In 182 1 a revolt broke out in Greece which raised the 
"Eastern Question", and finally dissolved the Holy Alliance. 
The Turks have proved themselves powerful in conquest, but 
weak in administration. No sooner had they reached their 
high water mark at the beginning of the 17 th century than they 
began to decline. Their government was the crudest form of 
Oriental despotism, in which everything depended on the 
personality of the ruler. The Sultans under whom their early 
successes were won were men of strong character; but their 
successors were weak, and became the puppets of their Janis- 
saries. The most elementary duties of government were left 
unperformed, and provincial governors were enabled to make 
themselves practically independent of their suzerain, and to levy 
heavy exactions from the subject races. Christianity was given 
a contemptuous toleration, and, in the absence of a proper 
system of government, the bishops of the Greek Church 
exercised considerable political influence. With the exception 



64 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

of a few Roman Catholics, all Christians in the Turkish Empire 
belonged to the Greek Church, and, whatever their race, were 
classed as " Greeks " by the government. They had no rights 
against the Mussulmans, whether Turks or Slavonic converts. 
Thus society was organised on a religious basis, as in Western 
Europe at the time of the religious wars, and national feeling 
was dormant. 

This loosely organised structure would soon have perished, 
had it not been for the jealousies of the great powers. Since 
the time of Peter the Great, the ambition of Russia had been 
directed towards Constantinople, and a series of campaigns 
had given her the Black Sea coast from the mouth of the 
Danube nearly to Batum. But the advance of Russia was 
viewed with jealousy by Austria, her natural rival, and by Great 
Britain, who had a practical monopoly of the trade of the 
Levant, and who was not unwilling that the key of her trade 
routes to the East should remain in weak hands. Owing to this 
conflict of ambitions, co-operation on the part of the great 
Christian nations was impossible^ and in 1815 the Turks still 
ruled over virtually the whole of the Balkan Peninsula. 

Even the Balkan Peninsula was affected by the French 
Revolution, and the Greek national movement was helped 
forward by a literary revival. Secret societies were formed, 
which in 182 1 organised revolts in Moldavia and Wallachia, 
and in the Morea. The former movement came to nothing, as 
the Rumanians, though members of the Greek Church, had no 
wish to be ruled over by Greeks, especially as they already 
enjoyed a considerable measure of self-government. The out- 
break in the Morea was more successful, and spread to the 
islands, and to Greece north of the Isthmus of Corinth. The 
Greeks massacred the Turkish garrisons, and the Sultan retali- 
ated by hanging the Greek Patriarch from his palace gate, and 
by exterminating the Chians. 

The Tsar Alexander was drawn in two directions by this 
revolt. On the one hand "Holy" Russia was bound to 



iv] FOREIGN RELATIONS 65 

sympathise with her co-reHgionists, and her poUtical dreams 
might be reaUsed by making common cause with them. On 
the other hand, the Tsar could not champion the cause of 
insurgents against their lawful sovereign without abandoning 
the principle of " legitimacy " on which the Holy Alliance was 
based. Castlereagh saw the difficulty, and succeeded in making 
Alexander promise not to intervene single-handed. 

The affairs of Spain also engaged the attention of European 
statesmen at this time. In 1820 Ferdinand VII was driven 
from his throne, and the government was carried on by the 
Cortes. But its administration was no better than the king's; 
the country was in a state of disorder; and a pestilence 
increased the confusion. In 1822 the members of the Holy 
Alliance met in congress at Verona to consider a joint policy 
with regard to Greece and Spain. Castlereagh intended going 
to the Congress as the British representative, and drew up "a 
memorandum in which he protested strongly against combined 
or separate interference in Spain, Before the Congress met, 
however, he had committed suicide in a fit of melancholia, 
brought on by over- work (August 12th, 1822). 

His place as Foreign Secretary and Leader of the Commons 
was taken by Canning, who carried on his policy with greater 
vigour of language and action. Canning was not able to 
prevent the Holy Alliance from entrusting France with the 
task of restoring Ferdinand; but he determined that " if France 
had Spain, it should not be Spain with the Indies," The 
Spanish- American colonies had revolted after Napoleon's at- 
tempt to establish his brother on the throne of Spain, and had 
maintained their virtual independence after the conclusion of 
peace and the restoration of their former sovereign. They had 
formed a welcome market for British trade; but the Spanish 
government, which retained only a few isolated ports, author- 
ised privateers to seize British ships trading with the insurgents. 
Canning now persuaded President Monroe to declare that the 
United States would regard the intervention of any other 



66 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

European country in Central or South America as an unfriendly 
act, and he himself plainly told France that Great Britain 
would not allow her to interfere. Left to her own resources, 
Spain proved unable to reconquer her former subjects, and in 
1824 and 1825 Canning recognised the independence of 
Mexico, Chili, the Argentine, and the other new states. "I 
called the New World into existence," he boasted, " to redress 
the balance of the Old." 

Canning's attitude towards the Greeks was friendly; but he 
was determined not to allow Russia to take advantage of the 
struggle. The Greeks were aided by volunteers from western 
Europe, particularly from England and France; they had 
gained command of the sea; and their cause prospered on the 
whole until 1824. In that year the Sultan in despair appealed 
for help to Mehemet Ali, the pasha of Egypt. The son of an 
Albanian tobacco-grower, Mehemet Ali had risen by force of 
character to be ruler of Egypt, owing only a nominal allegiance 
to the Sultan. He now sent his step-son, Ibrahim Pasha, in 
command of the Egyptian fleet and army against the Greeks. 
In 1825 Ibrahim landed in the Morea, and began systematic- 
ally exterminating the Greeks, intending to repeople the country 
with Mohammedans from Africa. In the same year the Tsar 
Alexander died, and was succeeded by his brother, Nicholas. 
Nicholas cared little for the Greeks, but took advantage of the 
Sultan's embarrassment to urge on him demands of his own. 

The situation was thus completely changed, and Canning 
saw the importance of ending the struggle before it could spread 
further. He secured the co operation of Russia and France in 
pressing the Porte to admit the independence of the Greeks. 
When this demand was refused, the combined fleets of the 
three countries were despatched to the Morea to cut off supplies 
and reinforcements from Egypt. The Greeks who still remained 
alive in the Morea were reduced to living on boiled grass, and 
the allies could see the smoke of burning villages in the interior. 
On October 20th, 1827, the joint fleet, under the command of 



iv] FOREIGN RELATIONS 67 

Codrington, who had commanded the OrionzX Trafalgar, entered 
the magnificent bay of Navarino, where the Egyptian fleet was 
anchored. The Turks fired on the long-boat of the Dart- 
mouth, which had been sent to parley, and a general action 
followed. After- four hours the Turks, having lost 53 ships out 
of 82, themselves blew up the remainder. 

Canning had died two months before the battle of Navarino, 
and, after a short interval, his place as Prime Minister was taken 
by Wellington. It was Canning's great merit that he refused to 
apply the formulas of the eighteenth to the problems of the 
nineteenth century. He understood that the principles of the 
revolution, so explosive when neglected, would make for 
stability when they were accepted. His clear insight into the 
needs of the time was equalled by his vigour in action. He did 
more than anyone else to free Europe from the tyranny of the 
Holy Alliance. 

Wellington immediately reversed Canning's policy. When 
George IV opened Parliament in January 1828, he was made 
to " lament deeply that this conflict should have occurred with 
the naval forces of an ancient ally," and to express " a confident 
hope that this untoward event would not be followed by further 
hostilities." This change of front encouraged the Turks in their 
obstinacy, and allowed Russia to go to war with them alone. 
The Sultan had just massacred his over-powerful Janissaries, 
and was soon forced to accept a peace by which Moldavia and 
Wallachia were made self-governing under Russian protection. 
Greece was made an independent state, under the guarantee of 
Great Britain, France, and Russia (1829), 

In July 1830 a revolution broke out in Paris, owing to the 
attempt of Charles X to suspend the constitution by which he 
had promised to govern. He was easily deposed, and Louis 
Philippe, son of Philippe EgaHte, established himself as a 
bourgeois monarch. The news of this success produced a 
rising in Brussels. The Belgians differed in speech, religion, 
and history from the Dutch, and resented the attempt of the 

5—2 



68 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

king to stamp out their nationality. Wellington had regarded 
the union of Holland and Belgium as one of the most valuable 
achievements of the Congress of Vienna; but his government 
fell before he had time to consider his attitude towards the 
revolution. 

The Foreign Secretary in Grey's cabinet was Lord Palmerston, 
an Irish peer. Palmerston had been at the War Office from 1809 
to 1828, and had been one of Canning's greatest admirers. Like 
Canning, he objected to the reaction which had followed the 
overthrow of Napoleon, and sympathised with Continental 
Liberals in their struggle against arbitrary rule. But he was too 
ready to interfere in the affairs of other countries when the 
interests of Great Britain were not concerned. A keen sportsman, 
he took risks in diplomacy as he did in the hunting field, because 
the spice of danger was to him an agreeable excitement. He 
loved getting into difficulties to show how well he could get out 
of them. Grey kept him in his place ; but Melbolirne and Russell 
were unable to restrain his headstrong and unruly nature. His 
handsome appearance, his humour, his extraordinary vitality, his 
self-confidence, and his spirited policy gained him the support 
of the country, and gave him a position of almost complete in- 
dependence in politics. He was his own party. 

England was keenly interested in Belgium's struggle for in- 
dependence, and looked to Palmerston to apply Canning's prin- 
ciples to the question. Palmerston handled the situation with 
great skill, and secured the co-operation of the other great powers, 
particularly of France. It was largely owing to his tact that hos- 
tilities were finally stopped, and the Dutch forced to admit the 
independence of Belgium. In 1839 England, France, Russia, 
Austria, and Prussia guaranteed the independence of Belgium 
in a treaty destined to become famous in our own day as the 
" scrap of paper ". 

Meanwhile the Eastern question had been reopened. In 1 83 1 
Mehemet Ali invaded Syria, whose pasha had offended him, 
speedily conquered it, and marched through Asia Minor. The 



iv] FOREIGN RELATIONS 69 

Sultan appealed to the Powers; but England and France were 
absorbed in the affairs of Belgium, and only Russia was in a 
position to come to his aid. The other powers forced Turkey 
to recognise Mehemet Ali as pasha of Syria, and Russia secured 
as the price of her assistance the closing of the Dardanelles to 
all ships of war but her own and those of Turkey. This aroused 
Palmerston's suspicions of Russia (which he expressed in his 
usual outspoken style), and disposed him to support the decay- 
ing Turkish empire. 

In 1838 Mehemet Ali again attacked the Sultan. France 
was inclined to sympathise with his ambition, as he had intro- 
duced French officers, engineers, and doctors into Egypt; but 
England, Russia, Prussia and Austria agreed in considering that 
his progress must be stopped. Palmerston instructed the English 
ambassador in Paris to tell the French Foreign Minister " in the 
most friendly and inoffensive manner, that if France throws down 
the gauntlet, we shall not refuse to pick it up." Louis Philippe 
dared not risk his throne, and abandoned the cause of Mehemet 
Ali, who was defeated by the allies, and forced to content himself 
with Egypt and Southern Syria. The Dardanelles and Bosphorus 
were now closed to all foreign warships in time of peace. 

There was trouble in the Far, as well as in the Near East. 
The events leading up to the disastrous retreat from Kabul belong 
to the history of India (see pp. 248-9), but it must here be 
pointed out that Palmerston saw in them fresh evidence of 
Russia's sinister designs. 

In 1840 this country became engaged in the "Opium War" 
with China. It must be remembered that the Chinese authorities 
objected not only to the opium traffic, but to all intercourse with 
foreigners, and that many of their demands, such as that for the 
execution of all British opium merchants, were unreasonable. 
They made a brave resistance, but had no chance of success 
against European weapons. In 1842 they were forced to pay an 
indemnity, to cede Hong-Kong to Great Britain, and to throw 
open Canton, Shanghai, and three other ports to all foreign trade. 



70 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

By this time Melbourne's government had fallen, and 
Palmerston had been replaced at the Foreign Office by Aberdeen^ 
who was a complete contrast to him. Mild and conciliatory by 
nature, Aberdeen was in full accord with Peel, who desired peace 
for his financial reforms. He came to a good understanding with 
Guizot, the French Prime Minister, and though the entente did 
not extend beyond official circles, it did much for peace at a 
time when France was still sore after her rebuff in the Levant. 
Aberdeen showed the same disposition in his settlement of the 
disputes with the United States. These questions were mainly 
concerned with boundaries, and were not serious in themselves, 
but Palmerston's bluntness of speech had given great offence in 
America, Under Aberdeen an understanding was reached, to 
the relief of both countries. 

On the fall of Peel, many Whigs were opposed to Palmerston's 
return to the Foreign Office. Lord John Russell, however, pro- 
mised to keep him in check — an undertaking which was not 
carried out — and he again became Foreign Secretary. He soon 
made himself detested by foreign rulers by his habit of sending 
them lectures on their duties to their subjects. There is no doubt 
that his advice was good, and might have averted the explosions 
which followed; but it was not asked for. 

In February 1 848 some French Liberals arranged to hold a 
banquet in Paris, at which speeches were to be made in favour 
of a wider franchise. Guizot was opposed to electoral reform, 
and Louis Philippe was unpopular because he was supposed to 
favour the middle class against the workmen. His rather colour- 
less foreign policy also annoyed a country which attaches much 
importance to its prestige. On the prohibition of the banquet, 
barricades were erected, street-fighting began, and Louis Philippe 
abdicated. 

The news of this revolution produced outbreaks throughout 
Europe. Every province of the Austrian Empire rose in revolt : 
Hungary declared its independence, the citizens of Milan and 
Venice drove out the Austrian garrisons, and even Vienna rose 



iv] FOREIGN RELATIONS 71 

and forced the Emperor to dismiss Metternich and to grant a 
constitution. The king of Sardinia put himself at the head of 
the national movement in Italy, which was reluctantly joined by 
the Pope and the king of the Two Sicilies. Revolutions broke 
out in Germany. But the democratic and national movements 
lacked discipHne and cohesion, and in 1849 autocracy was re- 
established wherever it had previously existed. 

Throughout these struggles Palmerston had shown himself 
the friend of oppressed nationalities. He made no secret of his 
wish to see the end of Austrian dominion in Italy, and he advised 
the Porte not to hand over to Austria the Hungarian patriots 
who had fled to Turkey after the failure of their rising. He 
backed up his advice by sending the fleet to the Dardanelles, 
in case Austria should contemplate the use of force. Russia, on 
the other hand, had viewed these revolutions with alarm, and 
had been anxious lest they should spread to Poland. It was 
mainly owing to the loan of a Russian army of 120,000 men 
that the Austrian Emperor was finally able to put down the 
Hungarian revolt. The Tsar and Palmerston had therefore stood 
forth as the champions of opposite principles. Many English 
Liberals were led to believe that the Continent could not be 
freed until Russia had been beaten in war. 

The Queen strongly objected to Palmerston's policy, and 
sympathised with Austria. Russell agreed with Palmerston's 
aims, but disliked his methods, and many Whigs felt that he 
ran the risk of war too lightly. But Palmerston defended his 
whole policy in a great speech, and was supported by a majority 
of the House. It was clear that the foreign policy of the govern- 
ment was its only title to popularity, and Russell could not afford 
to alienate a minister whom he could not control. 

On the abdication of Louis PhiHppe a republic was decreed 
and a provisional government established. In December 1848 
Louis Napoleon, nephew of the great Napoleon, was elected 
president by an overwhelming majority. In December 1851 he 
made himself dictator, putting down all opposition with ruthless 



12 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

severity, and a year later he assumed the title of Empferor, as 
Napoleon III\ We have already seen (p. 45) that Palmerston 
immediately approved of Napoleon's coup d^'etat of December 
1 85 1, and that his disobedience proved too much even for 
Russell's patience. Though Palmerston soon returned to office, 
on the formation of Aberdeen's ministry, he had to content 
himself with the Home Office, and, in fact, was never again 
Foreign Secretary. 

Napoleon Ill's rise to power was viewed with alarm in this 
country. He owed his success entirely to the Napoleonic legend, 
of which hostility to England was an essential feature. He suc- 
ceeded to his uncle's liabilities, as well as to his assets, and 
France expected him to wipe out the stain of Waterloo. Whether 
he ever seriously contemplated an invasion of England it is 
difficult to say. He cherished many plans which were incon- 
sistent with each other, and this may well have been among 
them. For the time being he sought to keep on good terms with 
England; but the friendship of "the chameleon of the Tuileries" 
was not to be relied on. 

Like many other usurpers, Napoleon III wished to dis- 
tract his subjects' attention from domestic affairs by means of a 
spirited foreign policy. He had said that the Empire was peace; 
but he knew that France, tired of the humdrum policy of Louis 
Philippe, was yearning for glory. In 1850 he had demanded from 
the Porte the custody of the "Holy Places" connected with the 
chief events in the life of Christ. This right, originally possessed 
by France, had been allowed to lapse more than a century before, 
since when the shrines had been cared for by members of the 
Greek Church, under the protection of the Tsar. Nicholas was 
not unwilling to seize this opportunity of reopening the Eastern 
question. During his visit to England in 1844 he had had long 
conversations with Aberdeen on the future of the Ottoman 

■^ After Waterloo, Napoleon I had abdicated in favour of his son 
(t 1832), who never sat on the throne, but whom the Bonapartis.ts regarded 
as Napoleon II. 



iv] FOREIGN RELATIONS 73 

Empire. He now (Jan. 1853) suggested to the British ambas- 
sador at St Petersburg that instead of waiting for the death of 
"the sick man", i.e. the disruption of the Ottoman Empire 
through internal weakness, and running the risk of a European 
war, it would be better to partition that empire beforehand, 
England's share being Egypt and Crete. At the same time the 
Tsar sent an envoy to Constantinople, not only to insist on his 
right of looking after the Holy Places, but to demand that he 
should be acknowledged as the protector of all members of the 
Greek Church in the Sultan's dominions. 

The British government instructed its representative at 
St Petersburg to inform the Tsar that it could not be a party 
to the dismemberment of a friendly state, and that it considered 
the Turkish Empire to be more healthy than he imagined. Lord 
Stratford de Redcliffe, the British ambassador at Constantinople, 
acting entirely on his own responsibility, advised the Porte to 
reject the demand of the Tsar to become the ultimate court of 
appeal for fourteen millions of its subjects. Now, unfortunately, 
the composite nature of Aberdeen's cabinet gave its diplomatic 
utterances an uncertain tone. Aberdeen's desire for peace was 
so strong that, if left to himself, he would have exhausted all 
the resources of diplomacy before drawing the sword. Palmerston, 
who was supported by Russell, wished to ensure peace by making 
it clear to the Tsar that war with Turkey would mean war with 
England as well . Either of these lines of policy , taken separately, 
might have preserved peace; but Palmerston's desire for plain 
speaking was neutralised by Aberdeen's pacific assurances. The 
Tsar, convinced that England did not want war, ordered his 
troops to occupy Moldavia and Wallachia, as a means of bring- 
ing pressure to bear on the Porte. This step aroused the jealousy 
of Austria, who summoned the Russians to withdraw, which 
they soon did. It now seemed that the English and French 
forces which had been sent out to Gallipoli in April 1854, 
and afterwards moved to Varna, might well be recalled. But 
Napoleon III thought that a war, particularly a war in alliance 



74 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

with England, would make his throne more secure, and the 
temper of England was Jingoistic. "It was not so much a good 
peace, as a good war, that was wanted in England in the summer 
of 1854." The Times suggested that the allied army ought to 
attack the arsenal of Sebastopol, and the idea was welcomed 
by Napoleon and by Palmerston, who thought it high time to 
teach Russia a lesson. This plan was finally imposed on Raglan 
and his French colleague, though they disapproved of it. 

In its ignorance of naval matters, the nation expected much 
from the despatch of our fleet to the Baltic — an expectation 
which was unwisely raised by the language of the admiral in 
command. It may be said at once that the fleet found it im- 
possible to do anything against the fortifications of Kronstadt. 
There was nothing to hinder British sea power from discharging 
its proper functions in convoying troops to the Crimea and 
maintaining their communications. These troops were singularly 
ill-prepared for the task before them. At that time the army 
offered few attractions to a man who was not actually starving. 
Discipline was harsh — in 1836 a private was flogged to death 
at Woolwich. The life was terribly monotonous : there were no 
libraries or recreation rooms ; breakfast and dinner consisted of 
the same food, cooked in the same way, all the year round, except 
on Christmas day; and enlistment was for life. The training was 
confined to barrack-square drill, field manoeuvres were rare, and 
the musketry course of most regiments was limited to three 
rounds of ammunition a year. 

In September 1854 fifty thousand allied troops were dis- 
embarked in the Bay of Eupatoria, some forty miles north of 
Sebastopol. On the 20th they drove the Russians from a strong 
position on the heights of the river Alma, and the road to 
Sebastopol was open. Raglan wished to attack the town im- 
mediately from the north; but the French general insisted on 
marching round to the south, and beginning a regular siege. 
There seems little doubt that Sebastopol would have fallen if 
it had been attacked at once, as it was practically unfortified; 



iv] FOREIGN RELATIONS 75 

but the three weeks' delay enabled its defenders to construct 
strong earthworks and to call up reinforcements. When the 
bombardment was opened, it did little damage, and the Russians, 
who now outnumbered the allies by two to one, were embold- 
ened to take the offensive. Heavy losses at Balaclava and Inker- 
man shook their confidence, and siege warfare was resumed. 

Now were revealed the defects of British administration. 
Most of the troops had no tents, or even knapsacks. They were 
given no fuel to cook the raw meat and unroasted coffee berries 
served out to them. The absence of fresh vegetables caused an 
outbreak of scurvy, a terrible disease, for which the cure is lime- 
juice. There were ample supplies of lime-juice in store; but they 
were not issued for some months. Then the Russian winter set 
in, heralded by a cyclone which sank twenty-one store-ships. In 
the fine weather no metalled road had been constructed between 
the camp and the sea base at Balaclava, and the rough track 
already existing became almost impassable. The transport mules 
died owing to lack of fodder, and the men had to act as 
beasts of burden when they were not in the trenches. Cholera, 
which had already broken out at Varna, again made its 
appearance. The sick and wounded were placed on the bare 
ground under canvas, and fed on salt beef and biscuit until they 
could be shipped off to the hospital at Scutari. There all the 
laws of hygiene were ignored — during the whole of November 
only six shirts were washed. 

For the first time in history the public at home were kept 
informed of the progress of the war by the reports of newspaper 
correspondents. The revelation of the facts produced a deep 
impression: in January 1855 a motion was carried in Parlia- 
ment for a committee of enquiry, and Aberdeen resigned. 
The Queen sent for Derby, who was too timid to seize his 
opportunity. Though the Conservatives were in a minority, any 
government which vigorously prosecuted the war would have 
been certain of support. Russell, who was next summoned, 
failed to secure the assistance of his late colleagues, who were 



76 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

disgusted at his disloyalty to Aberdeen. There was nothing 
for it but to call in Palmerston, who was joined by all the Liberal 
members of the late cabinet. The country felt that at last a man 
was in power who knew his own mind, and it had every confi- 
dence that he would carry the war to a successful conclusion. 

Before Palmerston became Prime Minister, the work of re- 
organisation in the Crimea had been begun, and Miss Florence 
Nightingale had taken charge of the hospital at Scutari. The 
popular idea of Florence Nightingale is inadequate and incorrect. 
It is true that she possessed that sympathy which is essential 
in a nurse; but sympathy alone would have been of little avail 
at Scutari. Her success was due, not to her feminine, but to her 
masculine, qualities; not to her heart, but to her head. She 
had long devoted herself to the study of nursing as a science, 
and she now determined to organise the Scutari hospital on 
proper lines. She had to face the conservatism of army doctors, 
who were horrified at the intrusion of a woman into their domain; 
but she had been given carte blanche by the Secretary at War, 
and she crushed all opposition. When the war was over, she 
devoted herself to the reform of hospitals at home, collecting 
facts and figures for blue books, and forcing unwilling ministers 
'to take action. It was Florence Nightingale who made of nursing 
a profession which educated ladies might enter in time of peace, 
as well as in war. 

In March 1855, the Tsar Nicholas died, really of a broken 
heart at the treachery of "General Fevrier". Alexander II was 
anxious for peace, but would not consent to the neutralisation 
of the Black Sea. On this Palmerston insisted, and he reflected 
the determination of the nation to continue the war until our 
military prestige was restored. In April the allies were joined 
by 15,000 troops from Piedmont, whose Prime Minister, Count 
Cavour, was anxious to be present at the peace negotiations, in 
order to raise the question of Italy's wrongs. On September 8th 
the English were repulsed from the Redan earthwork for the 
second time; but the French took the Malakoff, and the 



iv] FOREIGN RELATIONS 77 

Russians evacuated Sebastopol. Preliminaries of peace were 
agreed to in November, and the Treaty of Paris was signed in 
March 1856. The independence and territorial integrity of the 
Ottoman Empire were guaranteed. The Sultan promised liberty 
of worship and civil equality to all his Christian subjects. The 
Black Sea was neutralised, i.e. thrown open to all merchant 
vessels and closed to all warships. No arsenals were to be built 
on its shores. 

The diplomacy which ended the Crimean War was no 
better than that which failed to prevent it. It required little 
foresight to see that the terms of the Treaty of Paris would either 
not be put into effect at all, or would not last long. It is difficult 
to see in what respect England had gained. The administration 
of the army had been bad during the war, and it remained bad 
afterwards. No generalship had been shown on our side : the 
three great battles were "soldiers' battles" pure and simple. 
Indeed it was only the troops who came out of the war with 
credit. They had fought bravely, and had borne their hardships 
without complaint; but it needed no war simply to prove that 
British soldiers could fight. 

The Crimean War was the first great European contest for 
forty years. In the preceding period the energies of English 
statesmen had been mainly devoted to domestic matters, and on 
the Continent the movements in favour of nationality and 
democracy had met with no success on a large scale. The 
Crimean War proved the prelude to many others, which resulted 
in the unification of Italy and Germany. 



CHAPTER V 

PALMERSTONIAN ENGLAND 

Palmerston had been called to power to finish the Crimean 
War, and he was expected to resign when the war was over. He 
was over seventy years of age, and had spent more than half his 
life in office. But he was still full of energy, and save for a short 
interval, he remained in power for another ten years. During 
this period there was a truce of parties. Palmerston, like 
Canning, was Liberal abroad, but Conservative at home. He 
sympathised with the subjects of Continental despots because 
their grievances were tangible; but he could not imagine how 
any sane man could wish for an alteration in the British con- 
stitution. This attitude gained him the support of the Conserva- 
tives, who were anxious to keep out the Radicals, and who still 
only half trusted Disraeli. The Radicals, on the other hand, 
while disapproving of his inaction at home, heartily supported 
his Italian policy. 

In 1856 Palmerston involved the country in another war 
with China, which might easily have been avoided. His action 
was condemned by Parliament in 1857 ; but he appealed to the 
country, and gained a substantial majority. The troops which 
were sent out for China were diverted to India on the outbreak 
of the Mutiny, and just turned the scale in our favour. 

Just when Palmerston seemed likely to retain power for the 
rest of his life, he was driven from office by an unexpected chain of 
circumstances. On January 14th, 1858, an Italian named Orsini 
hurled a bomb at the carriage in which Napoleon III was driving 
to the Opera. The Emperor and Empress escaped unhurt ; but 
ten persons were killed and 156 wounded by the explosion. 
The horror which this outrage naturally aroused in France was 



CH. v] PALMERSTONIAN ENGLAND 79 

turned into a desire for revenge against England when it was 
found that the plot had been hatched in London, and the bombs 
made in Birmingham. Some French colonels wrote to the 
Emperor, begging him to lead them against a country which 
harboured such assassins, and their letters were published in the 
French official newspaper. The French Foreign Minister wrote 
a very outspoken despatch, in which he demanded that the laws 
of England should be improved so as to make such a crime 
impossible for the future. Palmerston thought this a reasonable 
request, and introduced a bill making conspiracy to murder a 
foreigner in a foreign country a felony. But the country resented 
the attempt of France to dictate to us at a moment when our 
hands were full with Indian affairs, and the bill was thrown out. 
Palmerston resigned, and Derby consented to form a ministry. 

The new government obviously existed only on sufferance. 
The Conservatives were in a minority in the Commons, and 
were weak in debating power. Disraeli had to stand up alone 
against Palmerston, Russell, Gladstone, and Bright. The 
ministry lasted just over a year, and in 1859 Palmerston came 
back, this time for life. 

In his second administration Palmerston had the assistance 
of Lord John Russell, who became Foreign Secretary, and who 
was made Earl Russell in 1861, and of Gladstone, who became 
Chancellor of the Exchequer. Gladstone now abandoned his 
neutral position between the two great parties, and definitely 
threw in his lot with the Liberals. His financial measures were 
the only domestic achievements of the government. His Budget 
of i860 marks the final triumph of free trade principles. He 
abolished the duties on all exports, and on all imports save 48, 
of which only 1 5 were articles of general consumption. These 
duties were retained as a convenient means of raising revenue, not 
for the sake of protecting home industries. In 1861 Gladstone 
founded the Post Office Savings Bank, which not only en- 
couraged thrift among the lower classes, but provided the 
government with money at a low rate of interest. At the end of 



So GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

the century its deposits amounted to ;,^^ 140, 000,000. This was 
a period of great prosperity — the foreign trade of the country 
doubled between 1854 and 1866 — but Gladstone insisted on the 
need for economy. He remitted taxation, reduced the National 
Debt, and opposed all extravagant expenditure. 

Lord John Russell was anxious for further Parliamentary 
reform. Half the middle class and the whole of the working 
class were still without the franchise, and there were still 
anomalies in the constituencies. In i860 he brought in a bill 
which received the support of Gladstone and Bright, but which 
was stifled by the passive resistance of Palmerston. Hence- 
forward foreign affairs kept him chained to his department, and 
on these he was in full agreement with the Prime Minister. 

When Palmerston returned to office in 1859, public attention 
was concentrated on Italian affairs. In no country were the 
results of Napoleon I's career more important than in Italy. His 
firm and efficient government was a complete contrast to the rule 
of the petty tyrants whom he dispossessed, and the fact that the 
whole of the peninsula was under his rule awakened national 
self-consciousness. The Congress of Vienna plunged Italy back 
into the darkness of the Middle Ages. The Bourbon King of 
the Two Sicilies once more ruled over the south, and the Pope 
over the centre. The King of Piedmont and Sardinia was given 
Genoa, and Austria joined Venetia to Lombardy. The small 
duchies north of the papal states were governed by younger 
members of the house of Hapsburg. The restored princes had 
learnt nothing from experience. Their rule was more corrupt, 
more arbitrary, and more incapable than ever. Mazzini preached 
the doctrine of Italian unity, and inspired his countrymen to die 
for an ideal. Garibaldi showed that the age of chivalry was not 
past. But all attempts to overthrow the established order were 
foiled by the support given to it by Austria. Gladstone visited 
Naples in 1850, and was shocked by the state of the administra- 
tion, which he described as "the negation of God erected into 
a system of government." 



v] PALMERSTONIAN ENGLAND 8i 

There was hope from one quarter. Victor Emmanuel, King 
of the tiny state of Piedmont, was determined to unite the whole 
peninsula. His Prime Minister, Cavour, was one of the most 
subtle diplomatists that even Italy has produced. Cavour saw 
that the first thing to be done was to drive the Austrians out of 
Lombardy and Venetia, and he realised that this could not be 
done without foreign help. He secured the aid of Napoleon HI, 
and brought about a rupture with Austria in April 1859. After 
defeating the Austrians at Magenta and Solferino, Napoleon left 
his task only half accomplished, and was content to make Austria 
cede Lombardy to Piedmont. But his invasion had encouraged 
the inhabitants of the central duchies to drive out their rulers, 
and to demand incorporation with Piedmont. 

Englishmen viewed these events with mixed feelings. As 
yet few felt any sympathy with Italian aspirations, and most of 
them were deeply suspicious of Napoleon's designs. The Queen 
favoured Austria, and a majority of the cabinet was opposed to 
meddling with the question. In Palmerston, Russell, and Glad- 
stone, however, Italy had three strong friends. They forced the 
cabinet to adopt their view that no foreign power should be 
permitted to interfere with the duchies, but that they should be 
allowed to decide their own future. In March i860, the duchies 
were incorporated with Piedmont as the result of a plebiscite. 

Now came the most romantic part of the unification of Italy. 
Garibaldi left Genoa with his thousand red-shirts on May 5th, 
i860, landed in Sicily on the nth, and was master of the island 
by the end of July. Lord John Russell refused to allow any 
foreign power to interfere with his passage across the Straits 
of Messina, and he was thus enabled to begin his march on 
Naples. Then followed Victor Emmanuel's annexation of the 
papal states, except the district around Rome. Save for this 
district and for Venetia, Italy was now united under one king. 
Such a result was distasteful to Russia and Prussia, who ap- 
proached Austria and France with a view to undoing it. But 
Russell told them frankly that " Her Majesty's Government 

H. 6 



82 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

must admit that the Italians are the best judges of their own 
interests. It is difficult to believe, after the astonishing events 
that we have seen, that the Pope and the King of the Two 
Sicilies possessed the love of their people." Therefore " Her 
Majesty's Government can see no sufficient ground for the 
severe censure with which Austria, France, Prussia and Russia 
have visited the acts of the King of Sardinia." When this des- 
patch was made public at the beginning of November i860, 
Italian enthusiasm knew no bounds. One of Cavour's most 
trusted subordinates declared that it was worth an army of 
100,000 men. Lord John's nephew wrote to him "You are 

blessed night and morning by twenty miUions of Italians 

The moment it was published in Italian, thousands of people 
copied it from each other to carry it to their homes and weep 
over it for joy and gratitude in the bosom of their families." 

The unification of Italy was primarily the work of the Italians 
themselves, under the inspiration and guidance of their own 
leaders. A nation can gain freedom only by its own efforts. But 
the support of England was indispensable. By laying down the 
principle that Italians of one state might interfere in the affairs 
of another state, but that no foreign intervention was to be 
tolerated, Palmerston and Russell "kept the ring", and allowed 
the Italians to work out their own salvation. 

The completion of Italian unity was accomplished with the 
aid of Prussia, whom Italy joined in the war of 1866 against 
Austria, receiving Venetia for her assistance. In 1870 the 
French garrison was forced to evacuate Rome to fight against 
the Prussians, and the troops of Victor Emmanuel occupied the 
city which alone could be the national capital. 

While Cavour and Garibaldi were laying the foundations of 
modern Italy, England was becoming more and more nervous 
of the danger of a French invasion. In March i860, immedi- 
atelyafterthe incorporation of the central duchies with Piedmont, 
Napoleon demanded and received from Cavour the price of his 
aid — the cession of Savoy and Nice. This was perhaps inevit- 



v] PALMERSTONIAN ENGLAND 83 

able; but it was unpopular in Italy, and it raised an outcry in 
England. If this was the way in which Napoleon treated his 
allies, hij) friendship was not worth keeping. There was no 
trusting the weathercock of Europe. He had already partly 
avenged his uncle's overthrow by his wars against Russia and 
Austria; would England or Prussia be his next victim? The 
fortifications which were being built at Cherbourg seemed to 
supply the answer. For forty years after the Congress of Vienna, 
England possessed the only strong navy in the world. But its 
apparent failure in the Crimean War had deeply impressed 
France, who had previously given up all thought of contesting 
its supremacy. Napoleon was determined to make France a 
maritime power. Though the French navy was smaller than 
ours, it contained an equal number of screw battleships, and 
Palmerston said that steam had bridged the channel. In 1859 
Derby had revived the volunteers, who numbered 160,000 by 
May 1 86 1. They did not disband when the panic subsided, 
but remained in existence until they were absorbed into the 
territorial system. Even historians were affected by the French 
scare : whenever Freeman wished to find a parallel for a deed 
of peculiar infamy, he compared it in detail with the seizure of 
Savoy and Nice. 

It was when this anxiety was at its height that Cobden and 
Gladstone brought about a treaty with France by which the 
English duties on French wines and brandies, and the French 
duties on English manufactures, were reduced. Their objects 
were not only commercial: they were anxious to link together 
the two nations by the bonds of peaceful intercourse. "Like 
the builders of the Second Temple," wrote Gladstone many 
years later, "grasping their tool with one hand and the sword 
with the other, we with one hand established commercial rela- 
tions with France of unexampled amity and closeness, while 
with the other we built ships, constructed fortifications, and 
founded volunteers, all with a silent, but well-understood and 
exclusive, view to an apprehended invasion from France." The 

6—2 



84 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

panic gradually diminished, but never quite died until the end 
of the Second Empire. 

The American Civil War next claimed the attention of the 
ministry. The fundamental cause of this struggle was the 
determination of the Southerners to maintain and to extend 
slavery, and of the Northerners to stamp it out. In 1850 
Jefferson Davis said "Slavery was established by decree of 
Almighty God," and soon afterwards the law courts decided that 
slavery was an essential part of the constitution, and must be 
protected by Congress throughout the Union. The presidential 
election of November i860 resulted in the victory of Lincoln, 
who had stated that the United States could not remain half 
slave and half free. The Southern states were alarmed at his 
election, and in the following February announced their seces- 
sion from the Union. This raised an issue which was quite 
separate from that of slavery, and it was on this question that 
Lincoln laid most stress. When he entered upon his term of 
office in March 1861 he declared that he was unwilling and 
unable to abolish slavery, but that he would not allow secession. 

On the question of secession most influential Englishmen 
sympathised with the South. The press was almost unanimous 
in favour of the gentlemen of the South against the traders of 
the North. While the Southern states provided England with 
raw material and with a market for her manufactures, the North 
protected its growing industries against foreign competition. 
Some leading Englishmen, such as the Prince Consort, the 
Duke of Argyll, and John Bright, realised that the cause of the 
North was the cause of liberty, and the working classes never 
wavered in its support. But Americans judged EngUsh public 
opinion by the utterances of official statesmen, and by the 
leading articles of newspapers, which were uniformly friendly 
to the Confederates. 

At the beginning of the war the Federal government pro- 
claimed a blockade of the Southern ports. This step naturally 
dealt a blow to British trade ; but its validity was recognised 



v] PALMERSTONIAN ENGLAND 85 

by the Cabinet. The blockade was the cause of two events 
which led to much bad feeling between the Federalists and this 
country. 

In November 1861, two Southern diplomatists who had 
made their way to a neutral port, and embarked on the British 
steamer Trent, were arrested on the high seas by the captain of 
a Federal warship. Lincoln at once saw that this action could 
not be defended; but Russell sent a peremptory demand for 
the release of the envoys, demanding a reply within seven days, 
and Palmerston ostentatiously made military preparations which 
he knew to be quite unnecessary. The matter was finally settled 
on Christmas Day, thanks largely to the previous exertions of 
the Prince Consort, who had died on December 14th. Northern 
feeling was well expressed in Lowell's lines : 

We give the critters back, John, 

Cos Abram thought 'twas right ; 
It warn't your bullyin' clack, John, 

Provokin' us to fight. 

The Confederates were unable to break the blockade, and 
retaliated by attacking Federal shipping with privateers. The 
most successful of these, including the notorious Alabama, were 
built in England. The Alabama was built on the Mersey, and 
was obviously meant for a commerce destroyer. Before she was 
ready for sea Charles Francis Adams, the Federal envoy, warned 
Russell of her character, and urged him to detain her for exam- 
ination. Russell did not make up his mind to take this step until 
the Alabama had sailed (July 1862). For the next two years 
she was the scourge of Northern shipping, which she drove from 
the seas. She was Confederate only in name. Her guns, her 
gunners, and the majority of her crew were British; she flew 
the British flag until she was near her victim ; and she used 
British ports as her bases. Russell obstinately refused redress 
for her depredations, and Adams finally postponed his claims 
to a more fitting time. 

Palmerston, Russell, and Gladstone were now becoming 



86 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

anxious for mediation. Lincoln still kept slavery in the back- 
ground. "My paramount object," he said in August 1862, "is 
to save the Union, and it is not either to save or destroy slavery. 
If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves, I would 
do it." The interruption of the supply of Southern cotton had 
caused great distress in Lancashire; for in i860 more than 
three-quarters of the cotton imported into England came from 
the U.S.A. By the end of 1862, half a million persons in the 
cotton districts were in receipt of relief. Subscriptions came 
in, not only from the colonies, but from foreign countries. The 
operatives bore their sufferings with exemplary patience, re- 
garding them as their contribution towards emancipation. But 
the South had manfully held its own against the North, and 
seemed likely to do so indefinitely. Such an expensive and 
useless struggle ought to be ended, thought Palmerston, and 
he began discussing the possibility of intervention with Napo- 
leon III. Gladstone publicly declared that the Southern states 
were to be regarded as a nation. 

But in September 1862, Lincoln proclaimed the emanci- 
pation of all slaves in rebel States in the new year, and thus 
made English opinion much more favourably inclined towards 
him. This was also the turning-point of the struggle. The 
superior resources of the North were at last organised for war, 
and their armies were at last commanded by able generals. 
Henceforward they steadily wore down their opponents, and 
intervention was out of the question. 

When the Civil War was over, England remained very 
unpopular throughout the U.S.A. The Southerners had been 
disappointed in their hope of mediation. The Northerners had 
not expected or desired help; but they had looked at least for 
sympathy. They were lighting for a principle; their cause was 
humanity; and they expected the approval of a country which 
had herself made such sacrifices for liberty, and which had so 
recently welcomed the birth of Italian freedom. Half a century 
later, England was destined to go to war in a similar cause, not 



y] PALMERSTONIAN ENGLAND 87 

for mere self-interest, but for the sake of an ideal; and some 
Englishmen, at least, were to overlook the sympathy of many 
American citizens by reason of the severe correctness of their re- 
sponsible statesmen. In both cases the country at war was too 
willing to attribute the strict neutrality of the other to mercenary 
considerations. 

We know we've got a cause, John, 

Thet's honest, just, an' true ; 
We thought 'twould win applause, John, 
Ef nowheres else, from you. 
Ole Uncle S. sez he, " I guess 
His love of right," sez he, 
" Hangs by a rotten fibre o' cotton. 
There's natur" in J.B., 
Ez wal'z in you an' me !" 

The American Civil War vitally affected England through 
the development of the iron-clad. In 1862 occurred the fight 
between the Merrimac and the Motiitor. Seven years before, 
Armstrong had begun to revolutionise gun-making. Now began 
that duel between weapons of defence and offence which has 
lasted ever since, and which has entirely altered the condi- 
tions of war on land and sea. The tactics and even the weapons 
of the Crimean War were practically the same as those of 
Napoleon's time, and the warships differed materially from 
Nelson's only in their motive power. Henceforth the effective 
life of warships and of land fortifications was to be limited to a 
dozen years. 

While the American Civil War was still in progress, a new 
and portentous figure appeared on the stage of European 
politics. In 1862 William I of Prussia found that he could not 
carry out his scheme of army reform against the opposition of 
the Chamber, and called Otto von Bismarck to his aid. In 1863 
the Schleswig-Holstein question came to a head. Schleswig and 
Holstein were two duchies ruled over by the King of Denmark 
by a different title from that by which he held Denmark itself, 



88 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

just as James I had different powers in England and Scotland, 
or George I in England and Hanover. Holstein was almost 
entirely German-speaking, and was a member of the German 
Confederation; while Schleswig contained a mixed population 
of Danes and Germans. The German Confederation, however, 
had long insisted that the duchies were indivisible. In 1863 
the King of Denmark gave Holstein full autonomy, but in- 
corpotated Schleswig as an integral part of Denmark. This 
action aroused a tempest throughout Germany, of which 
Bismarck determined to take advantage. Russell advised 
Denmark to make concessions; but he did not make it clear 
that if she refused, she could expect no help from England. 
Palmerston tried to turn Bismarck from his purpose by threats. 
"There is no use," he said, "in disguising the fact that what is 
at the bottom of the German design is the dream of a German 
fleet, and the wish to get Kiel as a German seaport. That may 
be a good reason why they should wish it; but it is no reason 
why they should violate the rights and independence of Den- 
mark. If any violent attempt were made to overthrow those 
rights and interfere with that independence, those who made 
the attempt would find in the result that it would not be 
Denmark alone with whom they would have to contend." The 
Danish Princess Alexandra had just been married to the Prince 
of Wales, and had already won the heart of the nation. The 
newspapers called on England to prevent the bullying of a small 
country by two big ones. 

Bismarck went on his way undisturbed. With the help of 
Austria he occupied the duchies, and forced the Danes to admit 
their loss. Palmerston and Russell wanted to go to war; but 
the Cabinet refused. The 20,000 men England could put into 
the field would not have made the slightest difference to the 
issue, and France was unwilling to join in without the promise 
of territorial gains on the Rhine. England lost the prestige she 
had gained through her Italian policy. Palmerston's bluff had 
succeeded so often that he had been led to use threats which 



v] PALMERSTONIAN ENGLAND 89 

he could not carry into effect, and which had been simply 
ignored. 

This defeat was the last notable incident of Palmerston's 
life. He died on October i8th, 1865, at the age of 81. 

Palmerston's reputation rests almost entirely on his foreign 
policy. He warmly supported the cause of freedom and of 
nationality. Belgium and Italy owed him a debt of gratitude, 
which they have repaid with interest. His antagonism to Russia 
was short-sighted, and led him to maintain the intolerable rule 
of Turkey in Europe. Towards the end of his career his inter- 
ference became at once irritating and ineffective. He left Great 
Britain without a friend in the world. 

Plis domestic poHcy was purely negative. He was well 
satisfied with things as they were, and refused to make timely 
concessions to democracy. During his own life-time the flood 
was stemmed; but after him came the deluge. 

It has been said that Palmerston was his own party. He 
never fitted into the system of cabinet government. As a sub- 
ordinate he was unruly and impatient of control; while' as 
Prime Minister he often refused to give his colleagues his full 
support. 

When one examines Palmerston's achievements, one is apt 
to wonder at the almost unparalleled influence he exerted over 
his contemporaries. The fact is that the man was greater than 
his work. He was a personality, not a party figure-head. He 
was decisive, imperious, self-reliant. His energy seemed bound- 
less. He was in Parliament for nearly 60 years, and in office 
for nearly 50; and only in the last year of life did he show- 
signs of failing powers. Genial and attractive in manner, he 
remained a schoolboy in spirit to the end. He knew how to 
take a beating, and never bore malice. He often laughed his 
opponents out of court instead of replying to their arguments; 
but his jests had no barb. We must not apply ordinary standards 
to a man whose natural cheerfulness was unclouded by 60 years 
of politics. 



90 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

Palmerston's commanding influence had given a stability to 
English politics which they now lost. Earl Russell became 
Prime Minister, and Gladstone Leader of the Commons. They 
immediately brought in a Reform Bill. The steady improvement 
in material conditions, cheap newspapers, and the impression 
produced by the Italian and American Wars had given a 
stimulus to democracy. The artisans were more numerous, 
more prosperous, and better organised. Gladstone's free trade 
principles and his sympathy with Italy had drawn him into the 
movement. 

This Reform Bill was attacked by many of the Whigs whose 
sympathy with democracy was lukewarm. John Bright gave 
the malcontents the name of Adullamites. "The right honour- 
able gentleman," he said, referring to their nominal leader, 
Edward Horsman, "is the first of the new party who has retired 
into what may be called his political Cave of Adullam, and he 
has called about him every one that was in distress, and every 
one that was discontented." Disraeli allow'ed the opposition to 
the bill to be led by the Adullamites; but they were aided by 
the votes of the Conservative party, and in June 1866 the bill 
was thrown out. 

Russell immediately resigned, and thenceforward took no 
active interest in politics, though he had twelve more years of 
life before him. His retirement was dignified and wise. In his 
early days he had rendered his country great services. He had 
introduced bills for the reform of the constitution, of local 
government, and of the poor law administration. vHe had sent 
Durham on the mission which laid the foundations of colonial 
self-government. But when he became Prime Minister, he had 
not the strength of character to keep the direction of affairs in 
his own hands. Having once been chief, he had not the great- 
ness of spirit to serve under Aberdeen with cheerfulness. He 
showed more magnanimity than was expected of him in ac- 
cepting office under Palmerston, of whose later foreign policy 
he shares the praise and the blame. 



v] PALMERSTONIAN ENGLAND 91 

Derby and Disraeli once more formed a government resting 
on a minority in the Commons. The country had not taken 
any great interest in the Reform Bill; but its rejection led to a 
widespread agitation. On July 23rd, in spite of the prohibition 
of the Home Secretary, a crowd burst into Hyde Park to 
hold a reform meeting. Bright addressed huge meetings in the 
large provincial towns, and finished his campaign in London in 
December. There was no violence; but Disraeli was able to 
convince his colleagues that a measure of reform was inevitable, 
and that they might as well get the credit for it. To cut a 
complicated story short, in 1867 he passed a bill which gave 
the franchise to all householders and ;£xo lodgers in boroughs, 
and to ;^i2 occupiers in counties. This measure admitted twice 
as many new electors as Gladstone's would have done. It con- 
ferred power on the artisan ; the agricultural labourer had to wait 
another 17 years. 

Disraeli's action in passing this act may be compared with 
Peel's abolition of the Corn Laws. There is no doubt that 
Disraeli had genuine popular sympathies. But though he 
boasted that he had "educated his party", it had not been 
prepared for such a sweeping measure. Disraeli, like Peel, 
abandoned the principles he had been chosen to support; but 
there was no one to treat him as he had treated Peel. The 
Conservatives gained' some consolation from the thought that 
they had "dished the Whigs"; but they regarded the bill as a 
"leap in the dark", and they wondered where Disraeli meant to 
lead them. 

While Parliamentary reform was being discussed in England, 
important events were taking place on the Continent. Schleswig 
had been occupied by Prussia, and Holstein by Austria, until 
their fate could be decided. Bismarck wanted both duchies for 
Prussia, and he was anxious to remodel the German constitu- 
tion. In June 1866 he went to war with Austria and the rest 
of the Germanic Confederation. In July the Prussian army 
overwhelmed the Austrians at Koniggratz, and in August 



92 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch.v 

Bismarck imposed his own terms on his opponents. Austria 
was expelled from Germany, and thenceforth turned her attention 
to the Balkan Peninsula. Of the North German states, some 
were annexed to Prussia, and the rest were forced to join the 
North German Confederation under her leadership. During 
this conflict Lord Derby's government had observed a strict 
neutrality. 

In 1867 Englishmen were reminded of the perennial nature 
of the Irish question by a series of Fenian outrages which 
occurred in England itself. In February an intended outbreak 
at Chester was prevented by the vigilance of the authorities. 
In March, two Fenian prisoners were being driven in a prison 
van through the streets of Manchester, when they were rescued 
in broad daylight, after the policeman in charge of the van had 
been shot dead. In December, the explosion of a barrel of 
gunpowder destroyed part of the wall at Clerkenwell gaol, where 
some Fenians were imprisoned, and killed twelve people in the 
street outside. 

Thus in 1868 Parliament was forced to turn its attention 
to Ireland, which had given no trouble since 1848. Derby 
resigned in February, owing to ill-health and old age, and 
Disraeli became Prime Minister in his stead. Gladstone in- 
sisted that the sources of Irish discontent should be removed, 
and succeeded in carrying resolutions for the disestablishment 
of the Irish Church, As soon as the new register was ready, 
Disraeli appealed to the country; but the Liberals gained a 
majority of over a hundred, and in December he resigned, 
without meeting the new Parliament. 

A new period now began. The problems which had been 
shelved during the Palmerstonian truce demanded treatment. 
The two great parties advocated opposite solutions, and were 
no longer in favour of compromise. The sharper division 
between parties was typified in the duel between Gladstone 
and Disraeli. But before we can understand this struggle, we 
must examine the preceding history of Ireland. 



CHAPTER VI 

IRELAND 1800-1866 

The Parliamentary Union between Great Britain and Ireland 
is little more than a century old. In 1800 Pitt secured the con- 
sent of the Irish Parliament to the Union \ on the understanding 
that Roman Catholics, who already possessed the franchise, 
should be eligible for membership of the Parliament at West- 
minster. It has been seen that he was unable to redeem his 
promise, with the result that until 1829 the "Irish Question" 
meant the demand for Catholic Emancipation. 

The economic position of the Irish peasant was miserable in 
the extreme. In the i8th century the population of Ireland had 
increased more rapidly than that of England, as the landlords 
had adopted the policy of dividing their land into very small 
holdings. This was only possible owing to the cultivation of the 
potato, which will feed eight men to the acre. But the average 
holding was only half an acre in extent. The tenant had first 
to pay a literal tenth of its produce to the minister of a religion 
which he considered heretical. Then he had to pay his rent- 
usually at the rate of _j^io. 10s. an acre — to a landlord who was 
almost certainly English, Protestant, and an absentee. His crop, 
too, was subject to blight. In bad years he would keep the best 
potatoes for food, and use the worst for seed, running counter 
to the laws of breeding. This process resulted in plants which 
had no strength to resist the disease of 1845. 

The partial famines which were common between 181 5 and 
1830 induced landlords to reverse their previous policy, and to 
clear their estates. The evicted tenants had no right to relief, as 
Ireland had no Poor Law; so they flocked to the towns. Here 

^ Of the members who voted for the Union, only seven were unbribed; 



94 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

there were no manufactures to provide work for the peasants, 
who died in swarms. Evictions led naturally in Ireland to 
agrarian crime. In 1821 a farmer named Shea evicted some 
cottiers. One night his house was set on fire, and he, his wife, 
his children, and his servants were driven into the flames. To 
put a stop to such outrages, the government had recourse to 
exceptional powers of a type which was common in the 19th 
century. The Habeas Corpus Act was suspended, and the Lord 
Lieutenant was given the power to "proclaim" districts, in which 
persons who carried arms, or ventured out between sunset and 
sunrise, might be transported for seven years. Such a policy 
rendered necessary the presence of an army of occupation 
larger than that which garrisoned India, and this force was in- 
sufficient to keep the peace. Ireland was, in fact, still ruled 
as a conquered country. 

The Irish peasant supported the movement for Catholic 
Emancipation for the reasons which made the English artisan 
support the Reform Bill. The troubles of both were economic; 
but they were demanding a political reform, from which they 
would not benefit directly. The English working man was not 
enfranchised by the Reform Bill, and the Irish cottier (who 
already had the vote) had small chance of becoming a Member 
of ParUament. They both felt, however, that their distress was 
largely due to the existence of bad laws and the need of good 
ones; and so they believed that they must win political before 
economic freedom. At last the Irish found their champion in 
O'Connell. 

Daniel O'Connell was born in Kerry in 1775. The only 
education his native country could give him was at a hedge- 
school, after which he proceeded to the Catholic seminary at 
St Omer. Here he imbibed a hatred of revolutionary ideas and 
methods which made him the most law-abiding of agitators. 
" All work for Ireland," he said, " must be done honestly and 
above board." He was one of the first to take advantage of the 
throwing open of the Irish Bar to Roman Catholics in 1792, 



vi] IRELAND 1800— 1866 95 

and soon made his mark as a " Counsellor ". Whenever a poli- 
tical trial took place, O'Connell was sent for. No one was so well 
qualified to instruct an ignorant judge on a point of law, or to ex- 
pose the perjury of a Crown witness. The very sight of his burly 
figure entering the court struck terror into the hearts of informers. 
Often, when he came in from the hunting-field, he was waited 
upon by disputants who wanted him to arbitrate between them. 
His award was final : the losing party never dreamt of appealing 
to the law courts. 

In 1823 O'Connell helped to found the Catholic Association, 
of which he soon became the leader. The Association met in 
Dublin, and held debates on matters of national interest, to 
which the public were admitted. Funds were raised throughout 
the country by the "Catholic rent" of a penny a month. In 
1825 the government passed a bill to suppress the Association; 
but it was easily evaded by a lawyer like O'Connell. 

When the Canningites left Wellington's cabinet in 1828, 
Vesey-Fitzgerald was made President of the Board of Trade, 
and had to seek re-election for County Clare, Though a Pro- 
testant, he had steadily voted for Catholic Emancipation, and 
was one of the most popular landlords in Ireland. O'Connell, 
however, determined to show the government his power by 
contesting the seat. He understood that though the law pre- 
vented a Roman Catholic from sitting in Parliament, it did not 
prevent him from receiving votes and being returned by the 
sheriff. The excitement in Ireland was intense. ^^28,000 was 
subscribed in ten days for O'Connell's election expenses. When 
the polling began, the peasants marched in military array, with 
their priests at their head, and voted for him almost to a man. 
Vesey-Fitzgerald gave up the contest after five days' polling, 
and O'Connell was declared duly elected. He did not expect 
to be allowed to take his seat; but he had forced the hand of 
the government. Ireland was divided into two well-organised 
camps; for the Orangemen also were armed and disciplined. 
In September 1828 O'Connell told the Roman Catholics to stop 



96 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

drilling. The instant obedience paid him showed Wellington 
how well his followers were controlled. Agrarian crime entirely 
ceased. Such calm in Ireland was unnatural and ominous. 
Finally, as we have seen (p. 20), Wellington and Peel were 
forced to carry Catholic Emancipation (April 1829). Roman 
Catholics were granted all civil rights save admission to a very few 
high offices. They were still excluded from posts in colleges and 
' schools in England, and from membership of Irish corporations. 

The revolt of the cottiers, who had previously been driven 
to the poll like cattle, induced the government to disfranchise 
them by raising the freehold qualification in Ireland from 40s. 
to ;^io. Nor was O'Connell allowed to take his seat without 
a fresh election, and George IV went out of his way to be rude 
to him. It is possible that the bill would not have obtained the 
assent of the King and the Lords without these restrictions; but 
they took away its healing character. ;^5,ooo was collected for 
O'Connell's new election; but no one dared oppose him. (It is 
well to remember that O'Connell now devoted himself entirely 
to the service of his country, and gave up his work at the Bar, 
which brought him in ;^8,ooo a year.) He now felt that he owed 
no gratitude to the ministry, and openly avowed his intention 
of repealing the Union. 

The next grievance to be attacked was the tithe system. The 
Church of a tenth of the population was mainly supported by 
the forced contributions of the other nine-tenths. Many of the 
clergy of the Church of Ireland were absentees who simply 
drew their salaries, leaving the work to be done by curates at 
;^20 a year. In 1830 and 1831 non-payment of tithe was general. 
A strong force of police and troops was necessary to seize the 
goods or cattle of a defaulter, and no one could be found to bid 
for them when they were put up to auction. Pitched battles 
were frequent, and Sydney Smith estimated that the collection 
of tithe in Ireland must have cost a million lives. In 1832 tithe 
composition was made compulsory, much to O'Connell's disgust. 
The country remairied in a state of terrible disorder. 



vi] IRELAND 1800-1866 97 

In 1835 Melbourne's government was so weak that it was com- 
pelled to come to terms with O'Connell. The latter promised to 
let repeal alone for the time if the Whigs would carry certain 
reforms. They failed to pass their measures through the Lords 
in their original form, but something was done. Tithe was 
made a permanent rent charge at 75 per cent, of its nominal 
value ; the English Poor Law system was extended to Ireland, 
where it was very unpopular, but fairly successful; and a ^^lo 
franchise was established in Irish corporations. This was the 
period of Thomas Drummond's Under-Secretaryship. He strove 
to keep the balance between parties and sects, to rule Ireland 
without exceptional powers, and to establish respect for the law. 
He made the most of a bad system, but killed himself in the 
effort. He died in 1840, and the Whigs resigned office the next 
year. 

Though O'Connell had long seen that his association with the 
Whigs was of little value, he had loyally observed the compact. 
Now that Peel was in office, he had little to hope from Parlia- 
mentary activity. The "Young Ireland" movement, of a literary 
and ideaUstic nature, was just beginning, and unless he wished 
to lose the lead, he must put forward another programme. He 
accordingly announced that 1843 would be the Repeal Year. 
At the time there was no outstanding practical grievance to be 
remedied; but he could appeal to national sentiment and to 
ancient wrongs. He went about the country addressing enormous 
meetings in the open air : one of them was estimated to consist 
of half a million persons. O'Connell was probably the greatest 
mob orator in British history. His massive physique, his rich 
and powerful voice, and his intimate knowledge of the Irish 
character enabled him to do what he liked with his audience. 
One moment his hearers would be laughing uproariously at his 
humour; the next, they would be quietly sobbing while he 
described the massacre of Drogheda or the penal laws so vividly 
that they felt them as personal injuries. Then he would rouse 
them to a fury of rage by asking if the countj-y which had inflicted 



98 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

these wrongs on their ancestors was to have the power to inflict 
like wrongs on their children. 

The circumstances seemed not unfavourable. Peel had not 
changed his views on Catholic Emancipatiori in 1829, but had 
been coerced into granting it by a show of force. Parliament 
had only just given self-government to Canada, which had been 
in open rebellion in 1837. But the House of Commons, which 
had been in favour of Catholic claims in 1829, was now deter- 
mined to maintain the Union. Peel concentrated troops in 
Ireland, and the Lord Lieutenant forbade a meeting which had 
been arranged at Clontarf for Sunday, October 8th, 1843. 
O'Connell undoubtedly meant to give the government the im- 
pression that he was ready to use force; but, as has been said, 
his instincts were against such a course, and he issued a procla- 
mation postponing the meeting. He was instantly obeyed; but 
his power was gone. He had led his country to expect a glorious 
fight for liberty, and this result was an anti-climax. In 1844 he 
was tried before Protestant judges and a Protestant jury, im- 
properly empanelled. The indictment was nearly a hundred 
yards long, and he was found guilty; but the verdict was reversed 
by the House of Lords. After his release his health gave way, 
and in 1847 he died on his way to Rome. 

Though Peel was resolved to preserve the Union, he was 
anxious to remove grievances which he knew to be real. One 
'of these was the backward state of higher education. In 1845 
Ireland possessed only two colleges : — the Roman Catholic 
seminary at Maynooth, and Trinity College, Dublin, where 
Roman Catholics might graduate, but not hold scholarships or 
professorships. Maynooth suffered from lack of funds : the 
buildings were poor, the professors were underpaid, and the 
accommodation for students was bad. Peel proposed that the 
government grant to Maynooth should be increased from ;!^9, 000 
a year to _;^26,ooo. His bill excited a storm of bigotry; but 
he succeeded in carrying it. At the same time he established 
the three Queen's Colleges in the north, west, and south, with 



vi] IRELAND 1800-1866 99 

a grant of ;2^7,ooo each. These colleges imposed no religious 
tests, and were therefore distasteful to Protestants and Roman 
Catholics alike. 

But the main grievance was the land, which concerned nearly 
every inhabitant of a country which had few manufactures. In 
1843 Peel had appointed a Commission under the presidency 
of Lord Devon, which reported in 1845. Under the old tribal 
system, the land was regarded as the property of the community. 
The head of the sept was not its owner, but simply its managing 
director. The English conquest had introduced English ideas 
of property, by which the landlord was regarded as the sole owner 
of the land. The Irish tenants still clung to the traditional view 
that the land belonged to them equally with the landlord; but 
the law took no account of their standpoint. The Commissioners 
found that, except in Ulster, practically all Irish occupiers were 
tenants at will. The Irish landlord, moreover, unlike the English 
landlord, supplied nothing but the land. The farm and out- 
houses, the fences, gates, and drains had to be constructed by 
the tenant. If the latter worked hard at his holding and improved 
its value, the landlord might demand a higher rent, and evict 
him if he refused to pay. This system obviously discouraged 
the tenant from exerting himself to the utmost, since his labour 
would only benefit the landlord. The Commissioners reported 
that agriculture was in a very unsatisfactory condition, and that 
seven-tenths of the population lived in huts which were unfit 
for human habitation. 

In Ulster a very different state of things existed. There the 
tenant held his land by " Ulster right ", by which he could not 
be evicted as long as he paid his customary rent. If he gave 
up his farm, he received compensation for the improvements he 
had made, and he had the right to transfer his farm to another 
tenant on payment of a reasonable fine. In Ulster, alone in 
Ireland, the tenantry flourished. 

Though the Devon Commission consisted of Irish land- 
owners, and had been appointed by a Conservative government, 

7—2 



loo GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

it did not shrink from the plain moral of these facts. It recom- 
mended that tenants throughout Ireland should be compensated 
on eviction or raising of rents. Stanley introduced a bill to this 
effect in the Upper House; but the Lords would have none of 
it, and it had to be withdrawn. 

Peel never had another opportunit}' of dealing with the 
matter. In the autumn of 1845 the Irish potato crop was a 
failure. This, as we have seen, hastened the repeal of the Corn 
Laws in June 1846. To deal with the famine and unemploy- 
ment, Peel bought large quantities of Indian corn, which was 
sold at a penny a pound, and started public works. The disease 
reappeared in 1846, when three-quarters of the crop failed. 
Famine, as usual, was accompanied by pestilence. An eye- 
witness described a certain village thus : — "The survivors were 
like walking skeletons, the men gaunt and haggard, stamped 
with the livid mark of hunger, the children crying with pain, the 
women in some of the cabins too weak to stand. All the sheep 
were gone, all the cows, all the poultry killed — only one pig 
left — the very dogs which had barked at me before had dis- 
appeared." So widespread was the distress that it was impossible 
to enforce the labour test. " The roads which it was decided 
to make were blocked by the labourers employed upon them, 
and by the stones which the labourers were supposed to crush 
for their repair." Russell accordingly gave up the public works 
in the summer of 1847, ^"cl instituted relief committees, which 
supported over 3,000,000 persons. The cost of this relief was 
partly borne by the local rates, and many landlords determined 
to diminish their liabilities by evicting their tenants. In one 
month alone in 1847, 6,000 notices were served in a single 
Union. Of the wretches thus thrown upon the world at such 
a time, some perished by the roadside of hunger or famine fever, 
others went over to England, and hundreds of thousands crossed 
the Atlantic. Huddled together in crazy "coffin-ships" without 
doctors or medicine, the emigrants fell easy victims to the 
disease they carried with them. It is estimated that 1 7 per cent. 



vi] IRELAND 1 800-1 866 10 1 

of them perished on the voyage, and many more died shortly 
after landing. The survivors cherished a bitter hatred against 
England, since they believed that the horrors of the famine had 
been accentuated by the blunders of the administration. The 
Irish peasant lived on the produce of his potato-patch; but he 
paid his rent by growing oats, barley, and wheat for the English 
market. In 1845 3*225,000 quarters of cereals were exported 
from Ireland — enough to feed the whole population for six 
months. It seemed to many observers that if the government 
had prohibited the export of food, and suspended, or even paid, 
pents, much suffering would have been avoided. 

The Registrar-General estimated that 729,033 persons died 
of hunger. From that time the population of Ireland has steadily 
declined. When the famine broke out, it was about 8,300,000; 
by 185 1 it had fallen to 6,550,000; and at the end of the century 
it was only 4,475,000. Even before the famine the country had 
been over- populated, and it was becoming less and less able to 
support its inhabitants. After the repeal of the Corn Laws they 
could no longer expect high prices for their grain. Their labour 
was becoming less necessary at harvest time in England owing 
to the introduction of agricultural machinery. Many of the 
landlords found that they could not pay the high rates of the 
famine years, and sold their estates. The new landlords regarded 
their purchase as a commercial speculation, and were governed 
by economic considerations. They found that it was more pro- 
fitable to produce meat for the English market than to divide 
their land among cottiers, whom they therefore evicted. Thus 
from the time of the famine there was a continuous flow of 
emigrants to the United States. 

One result of the famine and evictions was a serious increase 
of agrarian crime. Over two hundred persons were murdered 
in 1847, ^'^d the assassins could rarely be brought to justice. 
At the end of the year Russell passed a stringent Coercion Act, 
which put an end to the reign of terror. The French Revolution 
of 1848 induced the Young Ireland party to organise an insur- 



I02 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. vi 

rection. The government acted with vigour, arrested and 
deported the leaders, and nipped in the bud a movement which 
would have had little chance of success. For nearly twenty 
years Ireland was sunk in the apathy of despair. 

The revival of the Irish question was due to the new Ireland 
which had grown up in America. When the famine emigrants 
left their native shores, they did not cease to be Irishmen. They 
still clung to the hope of freeing their country, and formed 
secret societies with that object. Of these the most important 
was the Fenian Brotherhood, which took its name from the 
retainers of the legendary heroes. of Ireland. Many Fenians 
gained military experience in the American Civil War, and at 
its close they determined to bring about a rising. In the Autumn 
of 1865 many of them came over to Ireland. The government, 
however, was well served by its spies, and arrested most of the 
leaders. In February 1866 the suspension of the Habeas Corpus 
Act passed through all its stages in a single day, and all danger 
from Ireland itself was averted. In May an attempted invasion 
of Canada proved a complete failure, and Fenianism seemed to 
have shot its bolt. 

In 1867, however, the Fenians were responsible for the acts 
which have already been mentioned (p. 92). The trial of the 
"Manchester martyrs", who were condemned for the murder of 
the policeman, attracted considerable attention. Their regret for 
his death (which was really accidental), their youth, and their 
obvious sincerity and courage made a deep impression on many 
Englishmen who had previously given Httle thought to the Irish 
problem. Gladstone, in particular, was led to a serious examina- 
tion of the question. He was a member of a Conservative 
cabinet when Ireland had last demanded the attention of 
Parliament, and his political views had changed considerably 
since then. He now came to the conclusion that a determined 
effort must be made to remove Irish grievances, and the 
electorate allowed him to make the attempt. 



CHAPTER VII 

ENGLAND AND IRELAND FROM GLADSTONE'S 

FIRST MINISTRY TO THE GENERAL ELECTION 

OF 1885 

The death of Palmerston and the retirement of Derby and 
Russell left the field clear for the duel between Gladstone and 
Disraeli. Seldom has there been such a contrast between two 
rival statesmen. They were both great orators and skilful 
Parliamentary tacticians; but there the resemblance ended. 
Gladstone's oratory had to be heard to be fully appreciated, 
partly because of his intense earnestness, partly because of his 
lengthy parentheses and qualifications, which seem involved in 
print, but which his perfect elocution made perfectly clear when 
spoken. Disraeli's speeches abounded in terse, pithy epigrams, 
which make them still worth reading. Gladstone's passion and 
lack of humour made him a victim to the booby-traps of the 
more irresponsible of his opponents, whom he always took 
seriously; Disraeli was always cool, inscrutable, sarcastic. 

There was a deeper difference between the two men. 
Gladstone had thought of entering the Church, and had em- 
braced poHtics only because he thought he could thereby do more 
good. His sense of duty occasionally seemed priggish, and his 
conscience was so sensitive that many plain, blunt men regarded 
him as a Jesuit. Disraeli was frankly ambitious, and regarded 
politics as a means of gaining distinction. Gladstone loved the 
business of administration, and was at his best when explaining 
a complicated measure ; Disraeli was bored by details, and shone 
in destructive criticism. Gladstone's interests were domestic, 
and he was opposed to intervention in foreign affairs, save on 
behalf of oppressed nationalities; Disraeli was jealous of 



164 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

England's reputation abroad, but wasted little sympathy on 
small nations. Gladstone spent most of his political life in office, 
and was not a success in opposition; Disraeli rendered his party 
great services in the days of its adversity, and did not acquire 
real power until he was an old man. 

When, in December 1868, Gladstone was required to form 
a cabinet, he was able to secure the aid of a body of remarkably 
brilliant men. One of them, John Bright, was the first Non- 
conformist and the first representative of working men to sit in 
the cabinet. Now that the question of the franchise had been 
settled, the Liberal party was once more united, and was anxious 
for far-reaching reform after the Palmerstonian calm. For the 
first time since the fall of Peel, there was a government with 
a large and compact majority. 

Gladstone had said that Ireland was overshadowed by the 
three branches of a upas tree — an alien Church, the land laws, 
and the lack of a proper system of education. He now proceeded 
to deal with these grievances. Even strong Anglicans found it 
difficult to defend the established Church of Ireland. In only 
four of the 33 dioceses of Ireland did its m.embers form 20 per 
cent, of the population. Gladstone's bill of 1869 severed the tie 
between the protestant episcopal church in Ireland and the 
government, and made it a self-governing corporation, enjoying 
rather less than half its former revenue. The surplus was to be 
devoted to "the relief of unavoidable calamity and suffering 
not touched by the poor law." 

The Devon Commission had shown that the Irish land system 
was directly responsible for slackness, misery and terrorism; but 
all efforts to carry its recommendations into effect had failed. 
Parliament had abandoned laissez faire principles in its factory 
legislation; but it was unwilling to interfere with property in 
land. This was what Gladstone now proposed to do. In 
February 1870 he explained his land bill in a speech which lasted 
over three hours. The main principle was that a landlord who 
evicted a tenant would have to compensate him for disturbance 



vii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1868-1885 105 

and for unexhausted innprovements. This Land Act did not give 
the tenant security of tenure, or protect him against raised rents, 
and Gladstone allowed landlords to contract out of its provisions 
in the case of holdings worth more than ^50 a year. Though 
in practice its machinery did not work very well, it at least 
marks the beginning of attempts to deal with a serious question. 

The third great Irish difficulty was the state of higher 
education. The "Godless colleges" set up by Peel in 1845 were 
unpopular. Roman CathoHcs were now admitted to fellowships 
at Trinity College, Dublin; but they demanded an endowed 
university of their own. In 1873 Gladstone brought in a scheme 
which was thrown out by the Commons ; so that the problem 
remained unsettled. 

Gladstone's cabinet did not confine its attention to Ireland: 
it passed many important measures which concerned England. 
The educational policy of the government will be discussed later 
(p. 152); it is sufficient to state here that Forster's Educa- 
tion Bill of 1870 established a national system of elementary 
education, and that in 187 1 all religious tests at Oxford and 
Cambridge were abolished. 

In 1870-1 Cardwell reorganised the army. When he 
went to the War Office, the British army consisted of long- 
service men. The war between Austria and Prussia in 1866 had 
shown that a soldier could be made efficient in three years, 
and that a big reserve was necessary. Cardwell accordingly 
reduced the period of enlistment to 1 2 years, of which six were 
to be spent in the ranks if the regiment was going abroad, and 
three if it was stationed at home, the rest of the period being spent 
in the reserve. Up to this time an infantry or cavalry officer 
was forced to buy not only his original commission, but each 
step up to the rank of Lt.-Colonel, except when vacancies 
occurred through death. Such a system obviously gave money 
more weight than ability, and it was now abolished. The 
Commander-in-Chief was deprived of his semi-independent posi- 
tion, and was placed under the control of the Secretary for War. 



io6 GREAT BRITAIN AND. IRELAND [ch. 

In 1872 Gladstone accepted a principle against which he 
had voted in his first session, over 40 years before, and passed 
the Ballot Act. This measure, which had long been demanded 
by Radicals, was denounced by its opponents as cowardly, 
degrading, and un-English. Common-sense at last triumphed. 
It was notorious that open voting meant that pressure was 
brought to bear by the employer upon the workman, by the 
landlord upon the tenant, by the customer upon the tradesman. 
Without the ballot, democratic forms were a mockery. While 
secret voting did not entirely do away with bribery and intimi- 
dation, it rendered them less effective. 

One of the busiest members of a busy cabinet was Lord 
Granville, who became Foreign Secretary on July 6th, 1870, on 
the death of Lord Clarendon. Before the end of the month, the 
Franco-Prussian War had broken out. Napoleon III knew that 
his throne was safe only so long as he maintained the prestige 
of France. That prestige had been tarnished by the failure of 
his Mexican enterprise, and by the astounding success of Prussia 
in 1866. In 1859 France had beaten Austria, but not decisively; 
in 1866 Prussia had crushed her in seven weeks. Before the 
war, Bismarck had secured an assurance of French neutrality in 
return for territorial compensation. After the war, he had refused 
to carry out his promise. Napoleon had been tricked into allow- 
ing the establishment of a strong North German Confederation, 
and he was anxious for revenge. Convinced that war was 
inevitable, Bismarck determined to make France appear the 
aggressor, so as to gain the help of the South German states. 
Gladstone and Granville did what they could for peace; but on 
July 19th, 1870, France declared war. 

English opinion regarded Napoleon as the disturber of the 
peace, and the old dread of his designs was revived when on 
July 25th Bismarck published in the Times a draft treaty of 1867, 
by which France was to have been given Belgium as the reward 
of her neutrality in 1 866. The cabinet at once concluded treaties 
with both France and Prussia, to the effect that if either 



vii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1868-1885 107 

belligerent violated Belgian neutrality, Great Britain would help 
the other in its defence alone. 

Though Englishmen were still anxious for neutrality, the 
reverses experienced by France roused their sympathy. Russia 
was also becoming alarmed at the overwhelming success of 
her western neighbour. After the fall of Metz, however, 
Bismarck played a card which prevented the possibility of 
joint action by England and Russia. He persuaded Prince 
Gorchakoff, the Russian Chancellor, that the time was favour- 
able for the repudiation of the clause of the Treaty of Paris 
which forbade Russia to keep warships in the Black Sea, 
or to construct arsenals on its coasts. It was for this clause 
that Palmerston had prolonged the Crimean War for nine 
months; though obviously it could not be maintained when 
Russia had regained her strength; and though he himself did 
not expect it to last more than ten years. France, Austria and 
Italy had already informed Russia that they would not object 
to its abrogation ; so that only England remained to be reckoned 
with, and England was involved in a dispute with America. 
Prince Gorchakoff accordingly addressed a circular to the powers 
on October 31st, 1870, stating that the Tsar could "no longer 
consider himself bound to the terms of the Treaty of Paris, 1856, 
in so far as these limit his rights of sovereignty in the Black 
Sea." Granville was in no position to object to the substance 
of this declaration; but he took strong exception to its form. 
He insisted that what had been established by the powers could 
only be annulled by them in concert, and that one of the 
signatories had no right to tear up part of the treaty. As a result 
of his remonstrance, a conference was summoned to meet in 
London in December, which released Russia from the distasteful 
restriction. This conference was little more than a solemn farce, 
as it was known that Russia would not take "No" for an answer; 
but Bismarck's object had been attained. On January 28th, 187 1, 
Paris was forced to surrender, and in February preliminaries of 
peace were signed, by which France ceded Alsace and Eastern 



io8 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

Lorraine, and paid an enormous indemnity. Ten days before 
the fall of Paris, the new German Empire, which included South 
Germany, had been proclaimed in the Galerie des Glaces at 
Versailles. 

It has just been said that England was at this time engaged 
in a dispute with the U.S.A. It will be remembered that the 
American minister in London had been forced to postpone the 
case of the Alabama owing to the uncompromising attitude 
adopted by Russell. When the Civil War was over, the United 
States government began to press its demands; but no agreement 
had been reached when Gladstone became Prime Minister. 
This time it was the Americans who were unreasonable. One 
of their leading statesmen held that the exploits of the Alabama 
had encouraged the South to prolong the war, and that Great 
Britain ought to pay ;^4oo,ooo,ooo damages! Others would 
have been content with the cession of Canada and the British 
West Indies ! It was finally agreed to submit the case of the 
Alabama and the other English-built commerce-destroyers to 
a tribunal of five persons appointed by Great Britain, the United 
States, Italy, Brazil, and Switzerland. In June 1872 the arbi- 
trators met at Geneva, and in September they awarded the 
United States ;^3, 250,000 damages. To most Englishmen this 
sum seemed excessive; but it can hardly be doubted that it was 
desirable to end a quarrel between the two great English-speaking 
nations without having recourse to war. Henceforth the relations 
between England and America steadily improved. 

The Reform Bill of 1867, like the Reform Bill of 1832, was 
followed by a period of legislative activity. In 1873, as in 1839, 
the country was growing tired of the reforming energy of the 
government, and longed for a period of rest. Each of Gladstone's 
measures had alienated some particular interest. Churchmen 
and Nonconformists, army officers and brewers, landlords and 
lawyers had all been disturbed. The more timid Liberals were 
finding the pace too hot, and were inclined to cry "Halt!" The 
foreign policy of the government had not added to its popularity. 



vii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1868-1885 109 

It is hard to see what other course it could have followed with 
regard to the Franco-Prussian War, Gorchakoff's note, or the 
Alabama claims; but their cumulative effect was to make many 
feel that England's influence had sunk very low, and that foreign 
powers were not afraid to flout her. Finally, in three or four 
instances Gladstone had broken the spirit of the law while 
obeying its letter. His subtle mind had led him to avoid difficul- 
ties by expedients which seemed dishonest to the ordinary man. 
The by-elections went steadily against the government. Disraeli 
was not Wind to the growing weakness of his opponents. "As 
I sit opposite the treasury bench," he said, "the ministers remind 
me of one of those marine landscapes not very unusual on the 
coasts of South America. You behold a range of exhausted 
volcanoes. Not a flame flickers upon a single pallid crest. 
But the situation is still dangerous. There are occasional 
earthquakes, and ever and anon the dark rumblings of the 
sea." 

In January 1874, Gladstone advised the Queen to dissolve 
Parliament and put an end to a false position. His administra- 
tion had done much good work ; but its vitaHty was exhausted. 
He issued a programme of financial reforms which included the 
abolition of the income tax, a scheme he had long entertained. 
The country, however, was in a Conservative frame of mind, and 
gave Disraeli a comfortable majority over Liberals and Home 
Rulers combined. 

The Conservatives were in power for the first time since 1846. 
Since that year they had been in office three times ; but on each 
occasion they had been in a minority in the Commons. Their 
success was due not only to the mistakes of their opponents but 
to the leadership of Disraeli, who had really educated them in 
opposition. In 1872 he had defined the aims of the Conservative 
party as "the maintenance of our institutions, the preservation 
of our empire, and the improvement of the condition of the 
people." This statement was not a platitude in those days : each 
of these objects had to be fought for. 



no GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

When Disraeli urged the country to maintain its institutions, 
he was not simply attacking Gladstone's policy of rapid change: 
he was thinking of the Crown. For ten years after the death of 
the Prince Consort, the Queen had lived in retirement, and had 
rarely shown herself in public. This seclusion, at first viewed 
with sympathy, gradually caused a decline in her popularity. 
Some newspapers hinted that her motive was parsimony, and 
urged that her income was given her by Parliament to maintain 
her royal dignity. Anti-monarchical sentiments were fast spread- 
ing among the working classes, and a prominent Radical openly 
declared in the House that he was a Republican. Though 
Disraeli was well aware that the Queen took a deep interest in 
the business of government, he was anxious for her to come 
more before the public, lest the prestige of the monarchy should 
sulfer. Before he became Prime Minister, the tide had begun 
to turn. In February 1872, the Queen attended a thanksgiving 
service at St Paul's for the recovery of the Prince of Wales from 
a serious illness, and from that time her popularity steadily 
increased. This gave Disraeli the utmost satisfaction on political, 
as well as on personal, grounds. 

His gospel of Imperialism also ran counter to the tendencies 
of the age. In 1871 the Times viewed with equanimity the 
prospect of our surrendering Canada to the U.S.A. Disraeli, 
however, realised that a new type of political organism was 
coming into existence. He urged the necessity of binding 
together in a federation the free communities which formed the 
Empire. It is true that he never attempted to establish 
machinery for that purpose; but such an attempt would have 
been premature in his day. The machinery would have been 
useless without the spirit, and the growth of the spirit was largely 
due to him. 

His desire to improve the condition of the working classes 
was no mere device to gain the votes they had just received. 
Years before he had depicted the squalor of their surroundings 
in Sybil, and he had little sympathy with the individualism which 



vii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1868-1885 iii 

was still the creed of most Liberals. His government passed 
measures protecting Trade Unions, helping Friendly Societies, 
codifying factory legislation, and instituting the "Plimsoll" line 
for merchant ships. It also made the first attempt to deal with 
the housing problem as one which affected the nation, not merely 
the locality. Many of these measures did not go far enough, 
and had to be strengthened later; but Disraeli's motto was 
Festina lente. 

The main interest, however, of Disraeli's ministry lies in his 
foreign policy. On Nov. 25th, 1875, it was announced that 
176,000 shares in the Suez Canal had been bought by the 
government from the Khedive, at a cost of ^^4, 000, 000. The 
total number of shares was 400,000, and most of the remainder 
were held by Frenchmen. Disraeli saw, as Napoleon had seen 
before him, that Egypt was the key to India, and he was de- 
termined that France should not establish herself there. As 
a commercial speculation his action was a great success: the 
shares now pay a dividend of about 25 per cent, on their original 
cost. As a political step, it was bound to be viewed with jealousy 
by France, and it ultimately led to the English occupation of 
Egypt, which caused much friction between the two countries. 
Disraeli probably foresaw these consequences; but he did not 
shrink from taking a decisive step. 

It was at Disraeli's suggestion that the Prince of Wales 
visited India in 1875. Such a step was unprecedented; but it 
proved a striking success. On the Prince's return in 1876, 
Disraeli suggested that the Queen should assume the style of 
Empress of India. In spite of much opposition in Parliament, 
on January ist, 1877, the Queen's new title was proclaimed at 
a magnificent Durbar at Delhi. The imagination of the people 
of India was touched; they now felt that they had a ruler of 
their own; and their acclamations fully justified Disraeli's fore- 
sight. 

By this time the "Eastern Question "had once more disturbed 
the peace of Europe. Before Disraeli assumed office, the work 



112 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

of the Crimean War had been undone. Moldavia and Wallachia, 
which had been separated at Paris, had joined together to form 
the state of Rumania. Serbia was no longer garrisoned by the 
Turks. The neutralisation of the Black Sea was a thing of the 
past. Nothing had been done to give effect to the promises 
of reform glibly made by the Porte, and trustfully accepted 
by the powers. Russia had fully regained her strength, and 
stood in the same position relative to Turkey as before the 
Crimean War. 

Ever since the Congress of Paris, revolts had broken out 
from time to time in different provinces of the Ottoman Empire. 
In 1875 the Christians of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who were 
treated as serfs by their Mohammedan lords, and ground down 
by the exactions of the tax-farmers, rose in rebellion. Austria 
was alarmed at this outbreak on her borders, and induced Russia 
and Prussia to join her in demanding that Turkey should 
introduce reforms in her government of these districts. Disraeli, 
however^ was satisfied with the mere promises of the Porte. The 
insurgents insisted on more substantial guarantees, and the 
movement spread. In April 1876 a rebellion broke out in 
Bulgaria, where a literary revival had begun to awaken national 
feeling from the slumber of centuries. The three Emperors 
agreed to force a two months' armistice on the belligerents, to 
give time for a settlement in which the representatives of the 
great powers were to take part. France and Italy approved of 
the plan; but DisraeU said that Great Britain would not be 
a party to the coercion of Turkey, and moved the Mediterranean 
fleet to Besika Bay. His resistance broke up the concert of 
Europe, which alone could have brought the Turks to see reason. 
The policy of non-intervention, which was sound in dealing with 
European states proper, was inapplicable to Turkey, which only 
existed by reason of the support of the powers. 

Disraeli's action encouraged the Porte to put down the 
Bulgarian rising in its own way. Bashi-Bazouks were let loose 
on the unhappy country to murder and destroy. At Batak, 



vii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1868-1885 113 

which had a population of 7,000, some 5,000 persons were 
massacred, of whom 1,000 were driven into the church, which 
was set on fire. The news of these outrages sent a shudder 
throughout Christendom. Serbia and Montenegro declared war 
on Turkey. Gladstone, who had retired from political life in 
1875, leaving Lord Hartington as leader of the opposition in 
the Commons, came out of his retirement. "The outrages and 
massacres in Bulgaria," he said, "were not the acts of the Bashi- 
Bazouks,or the Regulars, or of the Mussulman population, except 
as mere instruments of the Porte. These massacres were not 
accident, they were not caprice, they were not passion. They 
were system, they were method, they were policy, they were 
principle." The actual perpetrators "remained unpunishable, 
free, rewarded, decorated. They acted in obedience to orders — 
written orders in some cases — and from the highest authori- 
ties." 

Disraeli treated the first reports of the massacres with a 
levity which shocked many of his supporters, and even when they 
were confirmed by the British Commissioner, he refused to let 
them make any difference to his policy. Lord Derby, however, 
the Foreign Secretary, was untiring in his efforts for peace, and 
it was largely owing to him that a conference met at Constanti- 
nople in December 1876, to which Lord Salisbury went as the 
British representative. The Turks, relying on the support of 
England, rejected the terms proposed by the conference. They 
had strong grounds for their confidence in the public utterances 
of the Prime Minister, who had been made Earl of Beaconsfield 
in August, and who was now reviving the Russian bogey. Lord 
Derby told the Turkish ambassador that he had instructed Lord 
Salisbury not to give Great Britain's consent to any coercive 
measures against the Porte, and he sent as ambassador to 
Constantinople a diplomatist who was known to be friendly to 
Turkey. 

Russia had honourably endeavoured to work in harmony 
with the other powers on behalf of peoples of her own religion 

H. » 



114 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

and her own blood. Beaconsfield's policy left her no option 
but to take the field single-handed, as she had done in 1828. 
In June 1877, the Russians crossed the Danube, and were 
soon masters of the passes over the Balkans. Their further pro- 
gress was hindered by the heroic defence of Plevna, upon their 
flank. At last, after a five months' siege, the fortress fell in 
December, and the Russians poured through the passes and 
took Adrianople (Jan. 1878). The road to Constantinople was 
now open, and the Turks were forced to make peace at San 
Stefano (March 1878). 

Opinion in England was much divided on these events. 
Neither the ministry nor the opposition was unanimous as to 
the course which should be followed. In May 1877, Gladstone 
proposed a resolution that by her misgovernment Turkey had 
lost all claim to either the material or the moral support of 
England; but he was defeated by 131 votes. By their gallant 
resistance at Plevna the Turks had almost erased the memory of 
the Bulgarian atrocities. Beaconsfield saw that the steady ad- 
vance of Russia in Asia was threatening India, and he was 
determined that she should not get Constantinople. After the 
fall of Adrianople, the British fleet was moved to the Sea of 
Marmora, nominally to protect British subjects. Beaconsfield 
objected strongly to the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano. 
Of these the most important was the creation of a "big 
Bulgaria", with a sea-coast on the Aegean as well as the Black 
Sea. The other Slav^ states, Serbia and Montenegro, were en- 
larged; but the claims of the non-Slav states — Rumania, 
Greece, and Albania — were ignored. The Treaty of San Stefano 
would have established many Balkan Alsace-Lorraines. This 
consideration had little weight with Beaconsfield, who was in- 
different to the fate of small nationalities. He viewed with 
alarm, however, the establishment of a big Bulgaria, which, he 
felt certain, would be the tool of Russia, and the base for her 
next attempt on Constantinople. He therefore insisted that 
^ At this time the Bulgars were regarded as Slavs. 



vn] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1868-1885 115 

the treaty should be submitted to a congress for revision, 
and when Russia refused, he summoned Indian troops to 
Malta \ 

Beaconsfield's firmness at last induced Russia to agree to a 
congress, which met at Berlin in June 1878. Lord Derby had 
resigned in March and had been succeeded as Foreign Secretary 
by Lord Salisbury; Beaconsfield and Salisbury attended the 
congress as the representatives of Great Britain. 

The Congress of Berlin Hmited the autonomous state of 
Bulgaria to the district between the Danube and the Balkans. 
The rest of Bulgaria proper, south of the Balkans, was placed 
under a Christian governor, and called East RumeHa. (A few 
years later, it was incorporated in Bulgaria.) The boundaries of 
Serbia and Montenegro were enlarged, and their independence 
was formally recognised. Rumania was also recognised as an 
independent state; but she was forced to cede Bessarabia to 
Russia in return for the barren Dobrudja. Bosnia and 
Herzegovina were placed under the administration of Austria, 
and Cyprus under that of Great Britain, who undertook to 
protect the Asiatic dominions of Turkey. The Porte once 
more promised full civil and religious liberty to its sub- 
jects. 

Though the states whose independence was recognised at 
Berlin owed their freedom mainly to Russia, they soon showed 
that they would not submit to the dictation of their benefactor. 
Their rapid increase in wealth and population, and their steady 
absorption of Western civilisation, at least on its material side, 
made them a far more formidable barrier to Russian ambition 
than the decaying Ottoman Empire had been. 

1 The English newspapers clamoured for war, and a popular music-hall 
song contained the lines : 

"We don't want to fight; but, by Jingo, if we do, 
We've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money too !" 
Hence the t&iTa Jingoism. The word was new, but the blustering attitude 
it denoted was old, and not peculiar to the British people. 



ii6 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

The Treaty was very popular in England. When Beaconsfield 
returned to London, the station was decorated in his honour, 
and cheering crowds escorted him to the Foreign Office, from 
a window of which he made them a speech. This was the high- 
water mark of his popularity. In 1879 the disasters of Isand- 
hlwana and Kabul (pp. 211 and 262), the latter directly attribut- 
able to his opposition to Russia's European policy, made men 
weary of Imperialism. Trade was bad, and the harvest of 1879 
was the worst of the century. Since 1875 the improved commu- 
nication with America had produced a collapse of agricultural 
prices. The general depression made the country lend a 
ready ear to Gladstone's denunciations of the government. 
Chamberlain had studied American electoral methods, which 
he used with effect in the general election of March 1880. 

In the autumn of 1879 Gladstone accepted the invitation 
of the Liberals of Midlothian to contest the seat, which was 
usually Conservative. On November 24th, he travelled from 
Liverpool to Edinburgh, where he was given an enthusiastic 
reception. For a week he made speech after speech, in spite of 
the bad weather. In March 1880, he went from King's Cross 
to Edinburgh, giving little addresses to the crowds which had 
assembled at all the stopping-places. Once more he conducted 
a platform campaign which showed his remarkable energy. 
(Though he was over 70, he could still walk 30 miles in a day 
when on holiday.) Gladstone's main proposal was the extension 
of the franchise to the agricultural labourer, but his speeches 
consisted almost entirely of an attack on the government. He 
criticised Beaconsfield's extravagant expenditure, heavy deficits, 
"needless wars, unprofitable extensions, and unwise engage- 
ments." The Queen and many of his own supporters were 
scandalised at this submission of questions of high policy to 
direct democracy; for in those days leading statesmen rarely 
appeared on the platform. At any rate, Gladstone's activity 
impressed the country. The elections resulted in the return of 
347 Liberals, 240 Conservatives, and 65 Home Rulers. "The 



vii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1868-1885 117 

Midlothian campaign was more than the triumph of oratory, 
more even than the victory of personality; it was the recogni- 
tion of a stupendous change coming over the face of the political 
waters: the shifting of the centre of political gravity from Par- 
liament to the platform, from the House of Commons to the 
constituencies, from the classes to the masses." 

Beaconsfield saw the futility of trying to face the new Par- 
liament, and he resigned before it met (April 21st, 1880). Al- 
most exactly a year later he died. Few English statesmen 
have been such an enigma to their own age, and so difficult for 
the historian to estimate. Entering Parliament with no in- 
fluence and with many disadvantages, he had to fight for his 
own hand. His determination, his bravery, and his sarcasm 
made him in debate a formidable opponent, who neither asked 
nor gave quarter. Ignored by Peel, he seized his opportunity 
in 1 846 and took his revenge, even at the cost of the break-up 
of his party. During the long years of exclusion from power 
which followed, he nursed his followers with infinite patience, 
never despairing of final victory. When at last power came to 
him, it is difficult to criticise his use of it. He is not remem- 
bered for great legislative achievements. He was no law-giver, 
but a prophet. His utterances were often vague and obscure, 
as the utterances of prophets are inclined to be; but they gave 
men a sense of the grandeur and dignity of our Empire. 
Though he did not live to see the harvest, his labours had 
done much to ensure his party twenty years of almost continuous 
power. When it was known that he was dead, no one felt his 
loss more than the Queen, who herself placed a wreath on his 
coffin. 

On Beaconsfield's resignation in April 1880, the Queen 
sent for Lord Hartington, the leader of the Liberal party in the 
Commons. Hartington sounded Gladstone, who promised him 
general support, but refused to serve second to anyone. In 
fact, the Midlothian campaign had made Gladstone's resumption 
of the leadership inevitable, and he was soon bidden to form an 



ii8 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

administration. His cabinet included Joseph Chamberlain, 
who, before entering Parliament, had made a great reputation 
in municipal administration, and was idolised in Birmingham 
to the day of his death. Chamberlain was a thorough Radical, 
and was regarded by many of his colleagues as a firebrand. The 
cabinet was really a coalition between Radicals, whose appetite 
for reform had only been whetted, and Whigs, whose sympathies 
were still essentially aristocratic. Even Gladstone's authority 
was not strong enough to prevent frequent discord between the 
two groups. In spite of its large majority, the history of Glad- 
stone's second administration is one of failure and disappoint- 
ment. 

The first difficulty encountered by the government was 
Bradlaugh's case. Charles Bradlaugh, one of the members 
for Northampton, was an atheist, and could therefore not take 
the Parliamentary Oath, which ended with the words "So help 
me God." The difficulty might easily have been overcome had 
it not been for the action of four members of the Opposition. 
These men — Lord Randolph Churchill, Mr A. J. Balfour, 
Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, and John Gorst — were im- 
patient of the control of Sir Stafford Northcote, their nominal 
leader, and seized every opportunity of baiting Gladstone. 
Bradlaugh gave them their first opening. Debate after debate 
was held on his case, which was not decided until the next 
Parliament, when he was allowed to take his seat. The success 
of the "Fourth Party" in this guerrilla warfare reflected great 
discredit on the government, and wasted much of its time. 

The next embarrassment of the cabinet was Ireland, which 
had not been appeased by Gladstone's legislation of 1869-1870. 
Irishmen regarded this legislation as having been extorted from 
England by the Fenian outrages, just as Catholic Emancipation 
had been won by the threat of civil war. They felt no gratitude 
in either case, but were rather encouraged to continue a policy 
of intimidation. In 1870 a meeting at the Bilton Hotel, Dublin, 
founded the "Home Government Association", which changed 



vii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1868-1885 119 

its name in 1873 to the "Home Rule League". The demand 
for Home Rule must not be confused with that for Repeal. 
The Repealers had pointed to the failure of the English 
Parliament to govern Ireland, and had argued that an Irish 
Parliament could do no worse. The Home Rule agitation was 
part of the great national and democratic movement of the 
century. It rejected Gladstbne's attempts to legislatej^r Ireland, 
and demanded legislation by Ireland. It held that it was better 
for Irishmen to govern themselves badly than for Englishmen 
to govern them well. 

The first leader of the Home Rule party was Isaac Butt, 
an eminent barrister. He believed in Parliamentary methods, 
and annually brought in a Home Rule motion, which was 
always defeated by a heavy majority. His followers grew tired 
of this procedure, and in 1875 one of them began the policy of 
obstruction, by speaking for four hours on an amendment which 
had nothing to do with Ireland. That same night Parnell took 
his seat for County Meath. 

Charles Stuart Parnell had few of the qualifications one 
would expect to find in an Irish leader. His father was an 
English landowner in Ireland, and a Protestant, while his 
mother was an American. He was no orator, and he had none 
of the passion of the Celt. Two qualifications soon made him 
the despotic ruler of his party : he was a born leader and tac- 
tician, and he bitterly hated everything English. The open 
contempt he displayed for the dignity of Parliament and for 
the feelings and prejudices of its members made him remarkably 
popular in Ireland. Even while Butt was still the nominal 
leader of the party, Parnell systematised obstruction. He was 
determined to prevent the English Parliament from governing 
England, so long as it insisted on trying to govern Ireland. 
The Irish members organised themselves for the purpose of 
wasting time. This was very hard to prevent; as the rules of 
the House were more lenient then than now. A very ingenuous 
new Member might have imagined that Parnell and his followers 



I20 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

were anxious that no new law should be passed, and no old law 
renewed, until they had convinced themselves that it deserved 
a place in the statute-book. They criticised every provision of 
every measure, and if no supporter of the government would 
prolong the debate by defending it, one of their own number 
would do so. Their zeal for their Parliamentary duties was 
remarkable: they were rarely absent; they never paired; and 
they were willing to keep the House sitting until 7 in the 
morning. All this imposed a severe strain on the supporters of 
the government, who had to work in relays like miners, and 
who were always liable to be called from their dinner to vote 
in a division. 

Parnell did not rely on Parliamentary obstruction alone: 
he beUeved in agitation out of doors, and finally persuaded 
the Fenians in Ireland and America to work with him. In 
1879 he helped to found the Land League. The objects of 
the other founders of the League were purely economic: they 
wished to reduce rents and establish security of tenure, and 
they passed a resolution that the funds of the League were not 
to be used for political ends. Parnell, however, wished to make 
it an instrument for getting rid of the English landlords, who 
were an obstacle to Home Rule. In that year Butt died, and 
in the Parliament of 1880 Parnell was the official leader of his 
party. The condition of Ireland demanded the serious attention 
of the government in 1881. The failure of the harvests of 1879 
and 1880 had made it impossible for tenants to pay their rent, 
with the result that over 10,000 evictions took place in 1880. 
(The Land Act of 1870 gave no remedy against eviction if the 
tenant had not paid his rent.) In consequence, over 800 
serious agrarian crimes were committed in the last three months 
of the year. In addition, the practice of "boycotting" now 
came into existence^. A landlord who evicted a tenant, or a 
farmer who took a holding from which the previous tenant had 

^ The term was derived from Captain Boycott, the agent of a Connemara 
landlord, who was one of the first to suffer from it. 



vii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1868-1885 121 

been evicted, was treated as a moral leper, with whom no one 
dared hold any intercourse whatsoever. 

In 1 88 1 Gladstone brought in two measures, one dealing 
with the symptoms, the other with the causes of the unrest. A 
Coercion Bill, "which practically enabled the viceroy to lock up 
anybody he pleased, and to detain him as long as he pleased," 
was doggedly opposed by the Irish members, who maintained 
the debate for 22 sittings, and who had to be forcibly expelled 
before it was carried in a final sitting of 41 hours. A Land Bill 
was then introduced which embodied the recommendations of 
a recent commission and granted the "three F's" — fair rent, 
fixity of tenure, and free sale. A tenant who thought his rent 
excessive, and who was not in arrears, might appeal to a new 
Land Court, which would fix a fair rent, to hold good for 15 
years. Many Irishmen were agreeably surprised at this conces- 
sion to their theory of dual ownership. Parnell, however, held 
that it should apply to the 100,000 tenants who had been unable 
to pay their rent for the last two years. It may also be noticed 
that agricultural prices fell by one-third during the next 15 years; 
so that "fair" rents became unfair long before they could legally 
be altered. 

Parnell's refusal to accept the bill as being wholly satisfac- 
tory meant that agrarian crime was still rife in Ireland. At 
last, in October 1881, the government arrested Parnell and 
many other leading Irishmen under the Coercion Act. On 
being arrested, Parnell warned his captors that he was leaving 
"Captain Moonlight" in charge. Captain Moonlight gave the 
authorities more trouble than Parnell had done. Crime increased 
to such an appalling extent that even Parnell became anxious. 
In April 1882 he informed the cabinet that if they would settle 
the question of arrears of rent, and release prisoners who were 
not suspected of actual crime, he would do his best to restore 
order. His offer was accepted, and he and his friends v/ere 
released. The "Kilmainham Treaty", so called from the gaol 
in which Parnell was imprisoned, led to the resignation of the 



122 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

Chief Secretary, W. E. Forster, who believed that coercion would 
ultimately succeed. His successor, Lord Frederick Cavendish, 
reached Dublin on May 6th. Late that afternoon he was walk- 
ing across Phoenix Park with Burke, the permanent Under- 
Secretary, when they were assassinated. The fact that the mur- 
derers were ignorant of Lord Frederick's identity, and had 
merely intended wreaking their revenge on Burke, only intensi- 
fied the horror inspired by their dastardly act. The last state 
of Ireland seemed worse than the first. There seemed no escape 
from the vicious circle: coercion giving rise to discontent, dis- 
content to crime, and crime to coercion. 

Gladstone first passed a Crimes Bill of unprecedented 
severity, and afterwards an Arrears of Rent Bill, which relieved 
tenants who paid less than ;^30 a year from their arrears, and 
gave the landlords partial compensation from the exchequer. 
Lord Spencer and G. O. Trevelyan used their exceptional powers 
with vigour, and restored at least outward calm. 

In 1884 Gladstone succeeded in redeeming his promise to 
give the vote to the agricultural labourer. The county franchise 
was made identical with that in boroughs. This Reform Bill 
created more new electors than those of 1832 and 1867 put 
together. At the same time a redistribution bill was passed, 
by which single-member constituencies of approximately equal 
population were established, save in towns containing between 
50,000 and 165,000 inhabitants, which were to return two 
members each. The importance of these measures is obvious. 

The Irish difficulties of the government were mainly due to 
causes outside its control; its foreign difficulties were largely its 
own fault. The events which happened during this period in the 
Transvaal and in Egypt will be narrated later (pp. 211 and 271). 
Here it may be noticed that most Englishmen thought Gladstone 
guilty of culpable weakness in granting the Boers independence 
before avenging Majuba (Feb. 26th, 1881), and guilty of culpable 
negligence in not preventing the fall of Khartum (Jan. 26th, 
1885). The Queen sent Gladstone a telegram en clair, blaming 



vii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1868-1885 123 

him for not having saved the lives of Gordon and the garrison 
of Khartum by earlier action, and the government escaped 
censure in the Commons by only 14 votes (Feb. 28th, 1885). 
It was destined soon to be beaten on its Irish policy. 

In the winter of 1 884-5 ^^^ members of an Irish secret society 
had exploded charges of dynamite in the Tower of London, in 
the House of Commons, and on London Bridge. The Crimes 
Act passed after the Phoenix Park murders was due to expire 
in August 1885 ; but in May Gladstone announced his intention 
of renewing some of its provisions. The Conservatives saw 
their opportunity of turning him out. Largely owing to the 
influence of Lord Randolph Churchill, they determined to drop 
coercion, and they allowed Parnell to know it. In consequence 
the Irish members helped the Conservatives to defeat the gov- 
ernment on the beer duties on June 8th, and Gladstone was 
glad of the excuse to resign. His second administration com- 
pares unfavourably with his first. A few useful measures had 
been passed^; but he had been unable to prevent most of the 
time of the House from being wasted. Problems had arisen in 
which his peculiar gifts had no scope, and to which he did not 
give sufficient attention. It was just as well for him that his 
opponents were given a spell of office before the general 
election. 

Lord Salisbury was not anxious to take office, as the Con- 
servatives were in a minority in the Commons, and he could 
not dissolve Parliament until November, when the new register 
would be ready. The Irish policy of the new government was 
outlined by Lord Carnarvon, the new Lord Lieutenant, who 
had brought about the federation of Canada, and attempted the 
federation of South Africa. Carnarvon pointed out that Ireland 
was always governed by exceptional powers, and urged that it 
ought not to be difficult to give her a constitution of the 

^ Elementary education was made compulsory ; employers were made 
liable for accidents due to their foremen ; farmers were given equal rights 
with their landlords to kill ground game. 



124 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

colonial type. In a private conversation he gave Parnell the 
impression that the Conservatives would be willing to establish 
an Irish Parliament if they obtained a majority at the general 
election. The government also advanced ;^5, 000,000 to Irish 
tenants to enable them to buy their farms. Bright had long ago 
insisted that the true solution of the land question was the 
establishment of peasant proprietors, and subsequent efforts 
followed these lines. 

On August 14th Parliament was prorogued for the general 
election. In the interval Parnell told Irishmen in England to 
vote for Conservative candidates, from whom they had most to 
hope. He now abandoned his Parliamentary isolation for a 
policy of alliance with each party in turn, with the object of 
securing as much as possible from both. Gladstone was studi- 
ously vague on English and Irish affairs, as he wished to keep 
the two wings of his party together. Many of the Whigs 
strongly objected to the programme put forward by Cham- 
berlain on his own responsibility, which included free education, 
payment of members, manhood suffrage, the abolition of plural 
voting, a graduated income-tax, and the disestablishment of 
the Church of England. Gladstone asked for a " party totally 
independent of the Irish vote," that the question might be 
settled by Salisbury or himself without Irish support, which 
would mean Irish pressure. When, however, the elections were 
over in December, it was found that the Liberals were exactly 
equal in number to the Conservatives and Home Rulers added 
together; so that Parnell held the balance. The huge majorities 
by which Parnell's followers were returned, now that the Irish 
peasants had the vote, convinced Gladstone that the demand 
for Home Rule was national, and he began to think out a 
scheme for an Irish Parliament. His plan became public pro- 
perty through the indiscretion of his son, and caused much 
heart-burning among his followers. Salisbury saw that he could 
do nothing unless he placed himself unreservedly in the hands 
of Parnell, a step he had not the slightest intention of taking. 



vii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1868-1885 125 

The Irish members accordingly joined forces with Gladstone 
to carry an amendment to the Address on January 26th, 1886, 
and on the 28th Salisbury resigned. On February ist Gladstone 
became Prime Minister for the third time, resolved on the 
great adventure. 



CHAPTER VIII 

ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1886-1906 

We have now reached a point from which it becomes increasingly 
difficult to write the history of England. Many of the questions 
to be discussed in this chapter still await settlement and still 
excite feeling, many of the politicians are still alive, and many 
of the secrets are still unrevealed. Even if we were acquainted 
with all the evidence, and if we could examine it without passion 
or prejudice, we should still find it impossible to acquire historical 
perspective. The historian traces the growth of important move- 
ments from small beginnings; to foretell the growth when only 
the beginnings are visible is the function of the prophet. Hence- 
forward the mass of detail becomes more formidable, and the 
task of selection more difficult. 

When in February 1886 Gladstone was ordered to form an 
administration, he told those whom he invited to join it that 
he was anxious to discover if it were not possible to establish 
a legislative body in Dublin for purely Irish affairs. Of the 
recipients of this message five, including Hartington, Goschen, 
and John Bright, refused to take office under such conditions; 
two. Chamberlain and Trevelyan, were prejudiced against the 
idea, but came in to see how it would develop; and seven were 
anxious for such an inquiry. At the end of March Chamberlain 
and Trevelyan found that they could not agree with their col- 
leagues, and resigned. 

On April 8th Gladstone moved the first reading of the Home 
Rule Bill in a remarkably full House. He proposed to establish 
an Irish legislature consisting of two orders, deliberating to- 
gether, but with the right of voting separately. This body was 
to have full power to deal with purely Irish affairs, such matters 



CH. viii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1886-1906 127 

as defence and foreign policy being reserved for the Parliament 
at Westminster, to which Ireland would send no representatives. 
The executive power was to be entrusted to the viceroy, assisted 
by a privy council, but advised by ministers responsible to the 
legislature. 

This measure broke up the Liberal party. Many of Glad- 
stone's followers were really Whigs, and had felt little sympathy 
with his reforming zeal. Lord Randolph Churchill had com- 
pared Hartington to a boa-constrictor, forced by his master to 
swallow one Radical measure after another. John Bright had 
long ago declared that Goschen was no true Liberal, and that 
one day he would hold office in a Conservative government. 
(Goschen had refused to take office in 1880, because he dis- 
approved of the extension of the franchise in the counties.) 
To such men Home Rule was only the last straw: they had 
long groaned under the previous load. The seceders also in- 
cluded men like Bright and Chamberlain who were more Radical 
than Gladstone. To them. Home Rule was distasteful in itself, 
and they looked forward to a reconciliation when it had been 
decently buried. The assault on the bill was led by Hartington 
and Chamberlain; but John Bright did more than anyone else 
to ensure its rejection. There were many Liberals who found 
it hard to vote against their old chief, and who thought it would 
be enough to stay away. At first Bright was of this opinion; but 
he became convinced that it was his duty to vote against the 
bill. His attitude decided the waverers. Early in the morning 
of June 8th the second reading was lost by 30 votes, 93 Liberals 
voting with the majority. 

Gladstone determined not to abandon the fight without 
appealing to the country. At the general election the Conserva- 
tives and the Liberal Unionists did not contest each other's 
seats, while there was civil war between the two sections of the 
Liberal party. The elections resulted in the return of 316 Con- 
servatives, 78 Liberal Unionists, 191 Gladstonian Liberals, and 
85 Parnellites. On July 20th Gladstone resigned office, without 



128 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

waiting for the meeting of the new Parliament. Ten days later 
he had a final audience with the Queen, who received him very 
frigidly. She had informed him of her dislike of Home Rule at 
the beginning; she had censured him for his oratorical tours 
outside his own constituency; and she had not disguised her 
delight at the result of the general election. 

Lord Salisbury now became Prime Minister for the second 
time. He had offered to serve under Hartington, as leader of 
the combined party; but Hartington thought that, as there was 
still a possibility of Liberal reunion, the administration ought 
to be purely Conservative. Lord Randolph Churchill was made 
Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the Commons. As 
Secretary for India in Salisbury's first cabinet he had shown 
ability, industry, and a sense of responsibility for which few had 
given him credit. His democratic views were regarded with 
misgivings by many of his party; but his power over the con- 
stituencies was inferior only to that of Gladstone and Chamber- 
lain. On December 23rd the country was astounded to hear that 
he had resigned office. He was sincerely anxious for national 
economy, and had carried his opposition to the increased army 
and navy estimates to the extent of tendering his resignation, 
never dreaming that it would be accepted. But he had " forgot- 
ten Goschen ". In his extremity, Salisbury appealed to Hartington, 
who, while refusing office himself, raised no objections to 
Goschen's becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1887 a 
conference between representatives of the two Liberal groups 
began well, but ended in failure, and the split was never mended. 

After the rejection of the Home Rule Bill two Irish members 
started the "Plan of Campaign", much against Parnell's wishes 
(October 1886). The Commission appointed to fix fair rents 
under the Act of 188 1 had not made their decisions compulsory, 
with the result that landlords who were dissatisfied simply ignored 
them. To deal with such cases the "Plan of Campaign" in- 
troduced the system of collective bargaining which Trade L^nions 
had made familiar. The tenants of any landlord were to offer 



viii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1886-1906 129 

him what, in their opinion, was a fair rent. If he refused the 
offer, the money was to be used as a war fund. In December 
the government declared the movement illegal, and in March 
1887 a Crimes Bill was introduced by the Prime Minister's 
nephew, Mr A. ]. Balfour, as Secretary for Ireland. The fact 
that this bill was to be permanent made it certain that it would 
encounter considerable opposition. It was probably with a view 
to easing its passage that the Times pubHshed a series of articles 
on "Parnellism and Crime", which strove to connect the Irish 
members with Fenian and other outrages. On April -i8th, the 
day of the division on the second reading of the bill, it printed 
the facsimile of a letter said to have been written by Parnell 
soon after the Phoenix Park murders, in which he said that 
Burke had got no more than he deserved. Even among members 
of Parliament there are many who believe everything they see 
in print, particularly in the Times. When that night Parnell 
denied having written the letter, which he called a " villainous 
and bare-faced forgery", many Conservatives laughed, and the 
bill passed its second reading by 10 1 votes. To deal with 
obstruction in committee the government, which had already 
introduced the "closure" in January, adopted the "guillotine". 
The House was now given a fixed period to discuss a govern- 
ment measure : if it chose to waste that time, the measure would 
pass automatically. The Crimes Bill became law on July 19th. 
At the same time a Land Act was passed, extending the Act of 
1 88 1 to leaseholders, and allowing the Land Court to revise, 
i.e. to reduce, rents. These two laws foreshadowed Mr Balfour's 
policy in Ireland. On the one hand he sympathised with 
economic distress, and did his utmost to relieve it. His efforts 
met with considerable success. The Light Railways Bill and 
the Congested Districts Commission did much to raise Irish 
agriculture out of the "Slough of Despond". On the other hand, 
he was determined to exact obedience to the law. In his 
struggles with the forces of disorder he showed a firmness, even 
a severity, of which few had thought him capable. In this 



I30 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

aspect of his policy also he was more successful than most Irish 
Secretaries. 

With his usual contempt for English public opinion, Parnell 
had not attempted to obtain a verdict for libel against the Times. 
In 1888, however, one of his followers brought an action on his 
own account, and during the trial further letters stated to have 
been written by Parnell were read in court. On July 9th Parnell 
demanded a select committee of the House to enquire into their 
authenticity. His request was refused; but the government es- 
tablished an extraordinary commission of three judges to examine 
all the charges brought forward in the articles on " Parnellism 
and Crime". This, of course, went further than Parnell wanted; 
but resistance was useless. The Commission sat for 128 days, 
spread over a period of 14 months. It discovered that the letters 
had been obtained from one Pigott, a needy journalist who had 
written begging letters to most Irish M. P. s. Pigott had first offered 
them to Hartington's secretary, who had refused them, and had 
then sold them to the editor of the Times, who asked for no 
proof of their authenticity. After two days' cross-examination 
by Sir Charles Russell, Pigott broke down completely, and fled 
to Madrid, where he committed suicide to avoid arrest. The 
report of the Commission, which ran into 7,000 pages, was pub- 
lished on February 1 3th, 1890. On the point which had provoked 
the enquiry — whether Parnell had written the letters or not— it 
found him innocent. The first time the Irish leader entered the 
House after the publication of the report, all the Liberal mem- 
bers and many of the Conservatives rose to their feet and cheered 
him. With regard to the rest of their enquiry, the Commissioners 
found many things which most people knew already: that the 
majority of Irishmen wished to govern themselves, and that 
many of them were willing to use illegal means to achieve this 
end. Whether such a desire was justifiable, in the light of Irish 
history, or whether its realisation would prove beneficial, were 
political rather than judicial questions. 

The signs of the times seemed not unfavourable to Gladstone. 



viii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1886-1906 131 

After the rejection of the Home Rule Bill, Englishmen paid 
more attention to Ireland than before, to see how the alternative 
policy succeeded. They found that, even under a man like 
Mr Balfour, the story of coercion made sad reading. They 
realised that, after centuries of effort, English law in Ireland 
was not the same as English law in England. In a speech made 
during the 1885 election, Lord Salisbury had practically de- 
fended boycotting. Now that he was Prime Minister, he was 
allowing his nephew to arrest Irish members at the door of the 
House of Commons. Many Conservatives felt that Mr Balfour 
was doing his party considerable harm, and by-elections were 
going against the government. In October 1890, Gladstone 
went on another Midlothian campaign. " Then," to quote his 
biographer, " all at once a blinding sandstorm swept the ground. 
One of those events now occurred that with their stern irony so 
mock the statesman's foresight, and shatter political designs in 
their most prosperous hour." In November Parnell was cited 
as co-respondent in a divorce case, and offered no defence. The 
main strength of Liberalism lay among the Nonconformists, 
and the Nonconformist conscience was aroused. Gladstone 
informed Parnell that one or other must resign his leadership. 
Parnell refused to abdicate, and he was deposed by a majority 
of his party, who saw that Home Rule could not be carried 
without the Liberal alliance. Beaten at Westminster, Parnell 
embarked on a campaign in Ireland. His energy was greater 
than his vitality, and he wore himself to death at the early age 
of 45 (October 6th, 1891). 

It is still early to attempt a final estimate of the work of this 
remarkable man. He succeeded in making himself ruler of 
Nationalist Ireland, and in inducing the most prominent English 
statesman to take up his cause. But, successful as his tactics 
had appeared, they told heavily against him when Home Rule 
became a question of practical politics. His systematic obstruc- 
tion had been neutralised by stricter rules of procedure in the 
House. His failure to denounce crime, nay, his callous readi- 

9—2 



132 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

ness to use it as a political weapon with which to intimidate 
his opponents, had alienated English public opinion, without 
the support of which Home Rule could not be carried. His 
policy of balancing the two great parties had brought him into 
frequent collision with the Liberals, many of whom were after- 
wards reluctant to work with him. He left his own party divided, 
and the priests succeeded to his power. It may yet be, however, 
that future historians will regard him as the real founder of a 
successful movement. 

The life of the Parliament elected in 1885 was now drawing 
to a close. The Conservative government could point to an 
excellent record of work done. They had laid down the two 
power standard in 1889, and had greatly strengthened the Navy. 
In spite of the extra expenditure, Goschen's finance had been 
so successful that he had a surplus in 1891, which he used to 
make elementary education free. The government had estab- 
lished County Councils, assisted technical education, passed a 
Small Holdings Act\ and improved the Factory Laws. Salisbury 
had concluded agreements with France and Germany which 
removed causes of friction in Africa. The general election of 
July 1892, however, gave Gladstone a majority of 40, counting 
the Nationahsts. On August i8th he became Prime Minister for 
the fourth and last time. 

On February 13th, 1893, Gladstone introduced his second 
Home Rule Bill, which differed from the first in allowing Irish 
members to sit at Westminster, and in dividing the Irish legis- 
lature into two distinct chambers. By September i the bill had 
passed through all its stages in the lower House, after scenes 
of excitement and even violence. On September 8th the Lords 
rejected it by a majority of more than ten to one. They had 
correctly gauged the feeUng of the country, which took the news 
very quietly. In the following March Gladstone resigned office. 
He was 85 years of age ; his sight and hearing were steadily 

1 This Act was ineffective ; since it did not give local authorities the right 
of compulsory purchase. 



viii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1886-1906 133 

failing; and he longed for a period of repose at the end of a life 
that had been devoted to politics. He had fulfilled his promise 
to his Irish allies, and had made another attempt to carry Home 
Rule. It was obviously shelved for his life-time, and he could 
retire with honour. In 1896 the news of the Armenian atrocities 
induced him to make his last appearance in politics, and on 
May 19th, 1898 he died. After lying in state in Westminster 
Hall for two days he was buried in the Abbey, the Prince of 
Wales acting as one of the pall-bearers. 

There can be no doubt that Gladstone was one of the greatest 
Parliamentary figures in our history. As an orator he had few 
equals. His command of language, his clearness of thought, 
and his wealth of illustration enabled him to present his case 
in the most convincing manner. In administration, his versa- 
tility and energy impressed all who came into contact with him. 
As a financier — and he devoted most of his time to finance — he 
showed a grasp of principles, a fertility of resource in handling 
details, and a zeal for economy. 

Entering Parliament as an opponent of democracy, he be- 
came its strongest champion. He never, however, stooped to 
the arts of the demagogue. When addressing working men, he 
paid them the compliment of treating them as rational beings; 
but he never flattered them. When he became convinced that 
legislation should be determined by public opinion, he strove 
to form and mould that opinion, to be a leader, not a mouth- 
piece. His democracy was political, not economic : towards the 
end of his life he viewed with concern the spread of Socialistic 
opinions among his followers and his opponents. 

In foreign policy he made many mistakes, due partly to his 
insularity of view; but no one could question the nobility and 
sincerity of his motives. " He will leave behind him," said Lord 
Salisbury, " the memory of a great Christian statesman." His 
religion permeated his whole life. He strove to apply the prin- 
ciples of Christianity to all the problems with which he had to 
deal. He believed that the moral code which should govern 



134 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

the relations between individuals should also govern the rela- 
tions between states. He held firmly to the conviction that 
right v/ould triumph over might. He was the champion of the 
weak and the oppressed. It is easy to smile at the application 
of such lofty ideals to politics and diplomacy; but it is worth 
noticing that Gladstone's standpoint was the exact opposite of 
Bismarck's. 

When Gladstone retired, the Queen sent for Lord Rosebery; 
though Gladstone himself would have preferred Lord Spencer, 
and the majority of the party would probably have chosen 
Sir William Harcourt. Rosebery's fondness for the Turf (his 
horse won the Derby of 1894) scandalised his Nonconformist 
supporters. He immediately declared that Home Rule must 
be postponed until England, as "the predominant partner", 
was convinced of its justice. Harcourt brought in a Radical 
budget, which granted abatement to the lower incomes paying 
income-tax, and which made the death duties on large estates 
heavier in proportion than those on small ones. (The duties 
ranged from i per cent, on p^ioo to 15 per cent, on ;^i,ooo,ooo.) 

In 1895 the chief measures of the government were a local 
veto bill, by which the inhabitants of a district might prohibit 
the sale of intoxicants, and a Welsh disestablishment bill. The 
former was at once thrown out; the latter had reached the com- 
mittee stage when the government were beaten in a small House 
on a minor point (June 21st, 1895). They felt that they were 
doing no good by remaining in office, and they were not sorry 
for an excuse to resign. Lord SaHsbury became Prime Minister 
for the third time. 

The general election of 1895 gave the Conservatives and 
Liberal Unionists a majority of 152 over Liberals and National- 
ists, and even that majority did not represent the full strength 
of the government. The Liberal Unionists now accepted office 
under Salisbury; but it would be a mistake to regard his cabinet 
as a coalition. Ten years of co-operation had fused the Con- 
servatives and Liberal Unionists into one party. The" Liberal 



viii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1886-1906 135 

Unionists had become Imperialists, and the Conservatives had 
become more democratic. The Opposition, on the other hand, 
was hopelessly divided. The Liberal party was torn by personal 
jealousies, and divided on the question of Imperialism. It was 
led in turn by Rosebery, Harcourt, and Sir Henry Campbell- 
Bannerman, none of whom was able to exercise control over 
the whole party. The Nationalists were also divided, those who 
had followed Parnell to the death still forming a distinct group 
under John Redmond. 

Under these circumstances it was clear that, for the time 
being, Home Rule was not a question of practical politics, and 
there was a widespread feeling among Irishmen that they ought 
to turn their energies into nori-poHtical channels. In 1894 Sir 
Horace Plunkett founded the Irish Agricultural Organisation 
Society, which he induced men of all sects and parties to join. 
By its establishment of butter and bacon factories and of village 
banks, the Society did much for the encouragement of dairy 
farming on the lines which had proved so successful in Holland, 
Belgium and Denmark. The new Irish Secretary, Gerald 
Balfour, was determined, as he said, "to kill Home Rule by 
kindness," and took the greatest interest in social and economic 
problems. A Land Purchase Bill of 1896 did some good; but 
emigration was still rapid, and the land question was still a 
source of trouble. Such was the extent to which Irishmen were 
learning to work together that in 1902 representatives of land- 
lords and tenants met together and agreed on apolicy of voluntary 
sale of land. In 1903 Parliament agreed to advance ;!^5, 000,000 
a year for this purpose. The new peasant proprietor would pay 
off the cost of his farm in 68 J years, and the instalments would 
be less than his former rent. In 1898 the government had ex- 
tended the principle of democratic local government to Ireland, 
and in the following year it had established the Department of 
Agriculture and Technical Instruction, which did excellent work, 
often in co-operation with the Agricultural Organisation Society. 
The new district councils were not afraid to use their powers. 



136 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

The way in which they tackled the rural housing problem, for 
instance, was an object lesson to England. By 191 1 they had 
built 35,000 cottages for agricultural labourers, each with about 
an acre of land attached, from the produce of which the labourer 
could pay his rent of a shilling a week. While the outlook was 
bright, and Ireland seemed once more on the road to prosperity, 
it must be remembered that many Irishmen suspected a con- 
spiracy to make them sell their birthright for a mess of pottage. 
The improved economic conditions only made them cling more 
passionately to their nationality. Hence arose the Sinn Fein 
movement. But here we must take our leave of Ireland. 

Salisbury had once more taken the Foreign Office as his 
department. In the winter of 1895 the President of the U.S.A. 
tried to apply the Monroe doctrine to a dispute as to the bound- 
ary between British Guiana and Venezuela. For a time war 
seemed probable; but Salisbury's combination of tact and firm- 
ness led to the establishment of an international tribunal, which 
finally decided almost completely in favour of the English 
claims. 

Next came the Armenian massacres, in which about 100,000 
members of that unhappy race were killed. Russia, remember- 
ing the Crimean War and the Bulgarian atrocities, was unwilling 
to join in coercing the Porte, and the Kaiser openly supported 
the Sultan in order that Germany might receive the contract 
for the Bagdad Railway. Salisbury accordingly refused to take 
the independent action demanded by Gladstone, and was forced 
to content himself with protests. In 1896 the government under- 
took the re-conquest of the Sudan, which will be described 
later (p. 277). 

The most energetic member of the cabinet was undoubtedly 
Joseph Chamberlain, who caused considerable surprise by going 
to the Colonial Office, then regarded as a minor post. He 
showed the country and his subordinates, however, that he had 
gone there for work, not rest. He was now the leading apostle of 
Imperialism. In his speeches he emphasised the need of closer 



viii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1886-1906 137 

relations between the self-governing colonies and the mother 
country, and he urged that the Crown colonies should be re- 
garded as undeveloped estates, to be opened up by British brains 
and British capital. He aimed at making the Colonial Office 
an effective instrument for these ends by collecting and dis- 
seminating information, and by interchanging opinions. The 
greater interest taken in colonial affairs was clearly shown in 
the Diamond Jubilee and the South African War. 

In 1897 Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee. 
On June 22nd a thanksgiving service was held on the steps of 
St Paul's, so that the Queen, who was growing infirm, might 
not be forced to leave her carriage. The whole country made 
holiday; every village had its bonfire. The procession through 
London was magnificent in the extreme; but public attention 
was mainly attracted by a group of men whose frock coats 
and top hats assorted strangely with such a blaze of colour. 
These were the colonial premiers, whom Chamberlain had 
invited to the Jubilee, not simply to take part in the festivities, 
but to meet in conference. Questions of imperial trade and 
defence were discussed, and, though no definite policy was laid 
down, something was done to survey the ground. 

The causes and events of the South African War will be 
found in the chapter on South Africa (pp. 215-221); here we 
may notice some of its effects on England, At the beginning 
of the third period of the war, the loss of hundreds of men in 
ambuscades and by disease aroused a feeling of irritation in 
England, and a section of the Liberal party demanded peace. 
In September 1900 Chamberlain persuaded Lord Salisbury 
to appeal to the country on the question of fighting the war to 
a finish, and the government were given a new lease of power. 

The long strain proved too much for the aged Queen, who 
died at Osborne on January 2nd, 1 901, and was buried by the side 
of her husband at Frogmore. To say that she had long regained 
her popularity would be an understatement : she was regarded 
with an esteem which was deeper than mere popularity, and 



138 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

her loss was felt in the most distant parts of the Empire. Her 
successor, King Edward VII, played a more public, if not a 
more active, part in politics. 

The Boer War cost the country 20,000 lives, and two hun- 
dred million pounds. It revealed the defects of our military 
system. In 1904 a commission of enquiry reported that hundreds 
of thousands of wrongly-sighted rifles and millions of rounds of 
defective ammunition had been issued, that the remount de- 
partment had been swindled, and that contractors had been 
guilty of gross corruption. It had soon become obvious that 
the training of both ofificers and men was unsuitable for modern 
warfare. But it must not be forgotten that most of them were 
quick to learn from experience, that they adapted themselves 
to remarkably difficult conditions, and that the lessons learnt 
in the war were not forgotten in peace. 

The Boer War helped to bring about an important change 
in our foreign policy. During the war our unpopularity on the 
Continent was such that only the Navy had prevented inter- 
vention. Now that our naval supremacy was threatened by 
Germany, it was doubtful if the policy of " splendid isolation " 
was safe. The Kaiser William II had ascended the throne in 
t888, and, feeling confident of his ability to frame his own poHcy, 
had dismissed Bismarck in 1890. After the Franco-Prussian 
War, Bismarck had declared that Germany was satiated and 
desired no further conquests. To prevent France from thinking 
of revenge, he had aimed at isolating her, and had taken par- 
ticular care to maintain an understanding with Russia. The new 
Kaiser was bent on territorial gains, and took no pains to preserve 
this understanding. In January 1896 he aroused much feeling 
in this country by sending a telegram to President Kruger, con- 
gratulating him on crushing the Jameson Raid without external 
aid. In 1897 he published a programme for the considerable 
increase of the German Navy, which at that time was insignifi- 
cant, and in 1900 (and later in 1906 and 1908) the programme 
was extended. His active foreign policy and his bombastic 



viii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1886-1906 13,9 

utterances might be discounted by his love of the lime-light; 
but he was master of a powerful army and was creating a power- 
ful fleet. 

Our relations with France had also been strained ever since 
our occupation of Egypt, and during the Boer War French 
opinion had been frankly hostile to us. But there was a material 
difference of tone between French and German comment. 
Frenchmen were not so much anti-British as pro-Boer. In 
accusing Great Firitain of bullying a smaller country, and in 
denouncing the concentration camps (where the death-rate was 
appalling), they were standing for justice, as they saw it. In 
precisely the same manner had Englishmen expressed them- 
selves during the Dreyfus trial. The criticisms rankled; but 
they were unselfish and sincere. German comment, on the other 
hand, had been coarse, had been largely directed against Queen 
Victoria, whose sex and age should have saved her from calumny, 
and had revealed, not sympathy for a small country trying to 
preserve its nationality, but a deep-seated jealousy of Great 
Britain. There could be little doubt that, though England and 
France misunderstood each other, they cherished the same 
ideals, and King Edward, acting in harmony with his ministers, 
determined to bring them together. In 1903 he paid a public 
visit to Paris, which received him with enthusiasm, and the same 
year President Loubet visited England. In 1904 all grounds of 
dispute were removed by an agreement by which, among other 
points, England recognised French interests in Morocco, and 
France recognised the English occupation of Egypt. The under- 
standing was not confined to diplomatists: the entente cor di ale 
became a popular watchword on both sides of the Channel, and 
stood the strain of the Moroccan crisis of 1905-6, which was 
brought about by the Kaiser's personal action. 

It may be well to go outside our period to trace the growth 
of the friendship between Great Britain and Russia. The 
Kaiser's neglect of Russia had left her free to make an alliance 
with France (1895). England was still afraid of Russian designs 



I40 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

on India; but France worked hard to bring her friend and her 
ally together. Her task was made easier by the Russo-Japanese 
War. In 1907 a treaty was signed which defined the British 
and Russian spheres of influence in Persia, bound both powers 
not to interfere in Tibet, and gave Great Britain control of the 
foreign policy of Afghanistan. In 1908 King Edward visited 
Revel, and in the following year the Tsar and representatives 
of the Duma visited England. Englishmen were surprised to 
learn how much the Russians knew about the British constitu- 
tion, and how much they admired it. 

By this time, then. Great Britain had made treaties with 
both France and Russia on non-European questions, and was 
on terms of general friendship with them; though she was 
bound to them by no treaty obligations in the event of a Euro- 
pean war. The Kaiser was relying on the Triple Alliance with 
Italy and Austria. Italy, however, had made a purely defensive 
treaty, and that only because of her strained relations with 
France. Between 1896 and 1904 the causes of friction between 
France and Italy were removed. The friendship between Great 
Britain and Italy had never been broken. In reality, Italy had 
more sympathy with the Triple Entente than with her partners 
in the Triple Alliance. Before we leave foreign affairs, mention 
should be made of the Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902, which 
freed England from the necessity of maintaining a powerful 
fleet in the Far East, and marked the advent of Japan as a first- 
class power. 

To return to home politics. Immediately after the close of 
the Boer War, Lord SaHsbury resigned and Mr Balfour became 
Prime Minister. In May 1903 Chamberlain proposed that the 
war tax of a shilling a quarter should be retained on foreign 
corn, but that colonial corn should be admitted duty free. He 
afterwards expanded his plan so as to include the protection of 
British manufactures by tariffs. His action began a controversy 
which has endured ever since. Without attempting to summa- 
rise the arguments employed on both sides, one may notice the 



viii] ENGLAND AND IRELAND 1886-1906 141 

following points. The fact that Free Trade suited the middle 
of the 19th century was no proof that it would suit the 20th. 
The old Corn Laws had aimed at making the British Isles self- 
sufficing in their food supply; Chamberlain wanted to make 
the Empire as a whole self-sufficing. There was not enough 
good land in the British Isles to feed their inhabitants; but 
there was enough good land and to spare in the colonies. More- 
over the Manchester School had argued that if Great Britain 
set the example, Free Trade would be adopted by all other 
nations, and the reign of peace would begin. This prophecy 
had not come true, and the Tariff Reformers urged that 
British manufacturers needed protection against their German 
rivals, who were subsidised by the state. On the other hand. 
Chamberlain was unfortunate in the moment he chose for trying 
to persuade the country that its fiscal system was unsound : the 
prophet of coming evil makes few converts in a period of general 
prosperity. In a speech at Greenock on Oct. 7th he said, 
" Agriculture, as the greatest of all trades and industries of 
this country, has been practically destroyed, sugar has gone, 
silk has gone, iron is threatened, wool is threatened, cotton will 
go." In fact, during the next ten years British exports of iron 
and steel manufactures increased by 46 per cent., those of 
woollen goods by 48 per cent., and those of cottons by 
69 per cent. 

In September 1903 Chamberlain left the cabinet in order 
to devote himself entirely to the work of converting the 
country. At the same time the strong Free Traders in the 
cabinet resigned because they disagreed with Mr Balfour on 
the question. Mr Balfour was anxious for an enquiry into the 
whole matter, and did not make his personal views clear for 
some time. Until the general election Chamberlain's pro- 
posals were keenly discussed. The Liberals and the Conserva- 
tive Free Traders were led to put forward other methods of 
maintaining our commercial supremacy, such as improved 
technical education, the greater application of science to 



142 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. vin 

industry, and the adoption of less old-fashioned methods in 
dealing with foreign customers. 

By 1905 the Conservatives were hopelessly divided, some 
going the whole way with Chamberlain, others preferring 
Mr Balfour's middle position, and yet others remaining true to 
absolute freedom of trade. Their large majority had made them 
slack in their attendance in Parliament, slack in administration, 
and slack in the constituencies. The report on the administra- 
tioh of the Boer War had done much to discredit them, and 
their introduction of Chinese labourers into the Transvaal gave 
their opponents a formidable electioneering weapon. In De- 
cember 1905 Mr Balfour resigned, probably thinking that Sir 
Henry Campbell-Bannerman would be unable to form a strong 
cabinet. But the Education Bill of 1902 (see p. 153) and the 
Tariff Reform campaign had healed the dissensions in the 
Liberal party, and all its leading members joined the adminis- 
tration. In January 1906 Parliament was dissolved, and the 
general election resulted in the greatest turnovet in English 
history. The Liberals gained 212 seats, and came back with a 
majority of 240, not counting the 83 Nationalists and the 51 
Labour members. 

Here we must end our sketch of political history. It is not 
an ideal stopping-place: many of the problems distinctive of 
the 19th century had not been solved in 1906, and it is very 
unlikely that future historians will regard that year as the close 
of a distinct period. But there is the practical difficulty that if 
one does not halt at this, point, any other will be still less satis- 
factory. What follows is present day politics rather than history. 
It remains to add some account of social movements, and to 
sketch the history of the colonies. 



CHAPTER IX 

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS (A) 

The purpose of this chapter and the next is to outline the 
social and economic changes which took place during the 
second half of the 19th century. It is important to realise that 
the Industrial Revolution was still in progress, affecting more 
deeply the industries which it had already penetrated, and 
making its way into others. The substitution of machinery for 
hand labour became so common that it is impossible to trace 
every step here. New processes, such as the Bessemer process 
for making steel, were discovered. Communication was made 
still easier by means of submarine cables, the steam turbine, 
and wireless telegraphy. Electricity and the internal combus- 
tion engine not only made travelling by road quicker, but 
made possible the development of submarines and aeroplanes. 
The application of machinery to tool-making led to the con- 
struction of more powerful engines for land and sea, and 
ushered in the age of spare parts. The movement has not 
attained its zenith even yet: there are still villages in Wales 
where the rattle of the hand-loom is heard in cottages; but 
such cases are growing rarer. In a modern tobacco factory a 
machine is shown which separates broken cigarettes from per- 
fect ones, strips them of their paper, and collects the tobacco 
to be used again. In another factory is seen an automatic boot- 
maker, which laces up the finished boot, ties a knot, and cuts 
the string. In a third, may be seen a power-loom which weaves 
the most intricate pattern, picking up the shuttles containing 
the different colours with unerring accuracy, and ringing a bell 
and stopping when the thread breaks or is used up. 

During this period the Industrial Revolution became a 



144 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

world-movement. For a generation after the repeal of the 
Corn Laws the hopes of the Manchester School were realised : 
England was the workshop of the world, exporting manufactures 
and importing raw materials and food-stuffs. Even agriculture 
enjoyed a season of unexampled prosperity. But the spread of 
railways and the improvement of steamships exposed the British 
farmer to foreign competition. In 1865 there were only 3,000 
miles of railway in existence west of the Mississippi; by 1883 
there were 50,000. The freight rate from New York to 
Liverpool fell fron^ 5s. 6d. a quarter in 1871 to 10^. in 190 1. 
Russia, the Argentine, Canada and India were also building 
railways and exporting cereals to Great Britain. In 1880 the 
first cargo of frozen meat was imported from Australia, the 
refrigerating machinery being worked by the ship's engines. 

Foreign competition was felt next in manufactures. The 
British manufacturer had had a long start, but others were now 
entering the race. The natural resources of the United States 
are enormous: at the present time they produce more coal, 
iron, copper, cotton, petroleum, tobacco, wheat and fish than 
any other country in the world. It was not to be expected that 
they would continue to send their raw materials to England 
instead of making them up themselves. The development of 
American manufactures may be illustrated by the exports of 
machinery and agricultural implements, which were worth 
$7,940 in 1861, and $116,992,000 in 1907. The commercial 
rivalry and methods of Germany threatened not only the trade, 
but the security, of Great Britain. 

It is important to note that other foreign countries have 
natural advantages which are certain to be developed, and that 
some of them have already begun the process. Take, for ex- 
ample, the ship-building and repairing yard established by 
Antonio Lage on an island in the bay of Rio de Janeiro. 
There are to be seen not only perfectly equipped machine 
shops, and dry docks hewn out of the solid' rock, but model 
farms, bakeries and abattoirs, which supply food for the 



ix] SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 145 

artisans and for Lage's steamers, which practically monopolise 
the coasting trade of Brazil. The whole establishment com- 
pares favourably with the best ship-repairing yards in Great 
Britain. At present the ship-building is on a small scale; but 
Lage is prepared to build large warships complete with guns, if the 
Brazilian government will protect him from foreign competition 
at the start. (Even Adam Smith was not opposed to the pro- 
tection of new industries, until they had taken firm root.) 
Factories are springing up in Japan and India, and the exploita- 
tion of the vast resources of China has begun. Earlier in this 
book it has been said that the Industrial Revolution, while 
adding immensely to the wealth of England, made her pros- 
perity unstable, as circumstances might render her customers 
unable to buy her goods. It is obvious that her prosperity 
has been rendered even more precarious by the extension of 
the Industrial Revolution, which has converted some of her 
former customers into rivals, and has given other customers a 
choice between her and foreign manufacturers. England now 
depends almost entirely on trade, for defence as well as for 
livelihood. The burden of modern armaments requires a large 
and elastic revenue, and the manufacture of modern weapons 
demands the best engineering plant and the best mechanical 
skill. It would be outside the purpose of this book to discuss 
the methods which British manufacturers should adopt to retain 
their supremacy, which up to the present is only challenged, 
not lost. 

The Industrial Revolution has not only spread throughout 
the civilised world; it has led to the parcelling up of the rest 
of the inhabited globe by civilised countries, owing to the 
necessity of finding fresh markets and fresh sources of raw 
materials. This opening up of the world has been made not 
only necessary but possible by the Industrial Revolution. Many 
half-civilised countries could not have been developed by Euro- 
pean traders without railways, tinned foods, and modern wea- 
pons. Another important factor has been the great advance 



146 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

in tropical hygiene. When in 1882 de Lesseps attempted to 
construct a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, he found 
yellow fever a more formidable obstacle than engineering dififi- 
culties. Rows and rows of tomb-stones still mark the graves of 
his engineers — the labourers died in such numbers that they 
could not be given separate graves. The progress of medical 
science has made the tropics less unhealthy for white men 
than our large towns were at the beginning of the 19th 
century. 

Civilisation has thus become international, not only on its 
material, but on its intellectual and political side. Nigerian chiefs 
own and drive motor-cars ; the Boy Scout movement has spread 
to Siam; Parliaments have been established in China and Japan; 
India and Egypt are beginning to demand Home Rule. These 
world movements may properly be mentioned in a work on 
English history, since England made this inter-communication 
possible, and since England and France have had most influence 
as constitutional models. 

To return to England. The most important fact in English 
political history in the second half of the century was the 
transference of power to the working class. Without discussing 
the question how far our central government has really been 
democratised, it may be said that the democratic frame-work 
had been practically finished by the end of the century — unless 
one holds that women's suffrage was essential to its completion. 
In the middle of the century the upper classes still ruled Eng- 
land. The middle class had been admitted to the franchise and 
to Parliament, but the cabinet was still essentially aristocratic. 
By the end of the century working men had gained seats in 
Parliament, and they were soon to enter the cabinet. 

The second half of the century witnessed the removal of 
many religious and social disabilities. In 1858 Jews were 
allowed to sit in ParUament. In 1868 compulsory Church rates 
were abolished. In 1886 Bradlaugh was, permitted to take the 
ParHamentary Oath, and in 1888 he secured the passage of an 



ix] SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 147 

affirmation act, which enabled Freethinkers to enter Parliament 
without going through a ceremony which had no meaning for 
them. In 1880 Nonconformists were allowed to bury their 
dead in parish grave-yards with any rites they chose. There 
has been a steady tendency to place members of all religions, 
or of no religion, on an equality before the law. 

In the legal reforms of this period, the same principle of 
equality may be seen at work. Up to 1857 a divorce could be 
granted by the ecclesiastical courts for adultery or persistent 
cruelty; but the plaintiff was not allowed to marry again. A 
rich man who did not mind two more public discussions of his 
private affairs might secure the passage of a private Act of 
Parliament, allowing him to re-marry; a poor man had no 
legal remedy. An act of 1857 transferred divorce and probate 
cases from the ecclesiastical courts to a civil court created for 
that purpose. In the sixties imprisonment for debt, flogging 
in the Army in time of peace, and public executions were 
abolished. In the seventies order was evolved out of the chaos 
of the judicial system by the establishment of the High Court 
of Justice, sitting in three divisions, and the Court of Appeal. 
Much has been done to make justice cheaper and quicker ^ 
Crime of all kinds has decreased to a considerable extent. 
There can be no doubt that this decrease has been due, not 
only to the much greater risk of detection, but to improvements 
in the prison system. The law no longer regards imprisonment 
as the only punishment for small offences. Where a sentence of 
imprisonment is passed with the option of a fine, reasonable 
time is allowed for the payment of the fine. First offenders are 
no longer sent to prison as a matter of course, but may have 
their sentences deferred during good behaviour. It is found 
that only about i in 12 commits a second offence. Convicts 
who have previously held a good record are carefully kept 

^ At the beginning of the century over ;i^3,ooo was charged in two years 
for the copying of documents relating to one suit, and an unopposed case 
lasted 12 years. 

10—2 



148 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

apart from habitual criminals, with the result that only i per 
cent, of them return to prison. Long-sentence men are taught 
a trade and are employed upon useful work, a stimulus to 
industry and good conduct being the fact that they can earn 
certain privileges and a remission of a quarter of their sentence. 
In a word, prisons no longer turn men who have yielded to 
sudden temptation into hardened criminals, but aim at reform- 
ing them. 

The spread of democracy has been even more noticeable in 
local than in central government. It will be remembered that 
the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 entrusted the govern- 
ment of large towns to corporations elected by all the rate-payers. 
In 1888 the principle was extended to the counties. All towns 
with a population of 50,000 were made county boroughs. The 
administration of the rest of each county was taken from the 
justices in their quarter sessions and given to County Councils, 
consisting partly of county councillors elected for three years by 
the rate-payers, and partly of co-opted aldermen. The admin- 
istration of London had previously been divided between the 
corporations of London and Westminster (whose authority was 
limited to the city boundaries), the Metropolitan Board of 
Works, and the parish vestries, which were oligarchic and 
often corrupt. London was now given a County Council^ to 
which many distinguished men were elected. In 1894 elective 
district and parish councils were estabUshed. 

Each district throughout the country was thus enabled to 
deal with its local problems. The result was an enormous in- 
crease of public enterprise, the commonest forms being the 
provision of water, gas, electricity, and tramway services. (In 
1915, there were nearly 1,200 public water-works, and over 
one-third of the gas-works of the country were owned by muni- 
cipalities. By 1910 nearly ;^6oo,ooo,ooo of stock had been 
issued for municipal enterprises.) Municipal parks, museums, 
and picture-galleries are common. Torquay has its municipal 
restaurant, concert-hall, and orchestra; Doncaster has its 



ix] SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 149 

municipal race-course j Glasgow sorts its rubbish, to dispose of 
which it uses more than 700 of its own railway waggons. 

In theory these local bodies enjoy almost complete inde- 
pendence, and may levy rates for any purpose. In practice 
their powers are limited in two ways, from above and from 
below. Most government departments have the right of mak- 
ing "grants in aid" from the Treasury, which supplement the 
local rates. For instance, in March 19 13 the Home Office 
withheld a police grant of ;2{^28,ooo from the Glamorgan 
County Council, because it considered the police station ac- 
commodation inadequate. Thus a locality which is content 
with inefficient administration may find its rates as high as 
those of a locality which manages its affairs well, and which 
has part of the expense borne by the country at large. 

General control is exercised by the Local Government 
Board, which ratifies by-laws, gives or withholds its consent to 
loans, and appoints an auditor to examine the accounts of 
County Councils. The auditor has the power to call for any 
account books, to summon any person before him as a witness, 
and to disallow any payment, an appeal lying to the Local 
Government Board (or, in questions of law, to the High Court). 
Borough accounts, on the other hand, are audited locally, two 
of the auditors being elected by the burgesses, and a third 
appointed by the mayor. These auditors have no right of dis- 
allowance or surcharge. 

Besides its financial oversight, the Local Government Board 
also controls sanitary administration, partly by general orders, 
e.g. relating to the appointment of medical officers of health, 
partly by ordering particular bodies to take certain steps, e.g. 
the provision of mortuaries. 

The other check is from below. The meetings of these 
local bodies are public, and their policy is likely to be criti- 
cised at election time. In spite of this publicity, instances of 
corruption and inefficiency are not infrequent. In such cases, 
the rate-payers are to be blamed for not electing better men. 



I50 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

The remedy is in their own hands : they get the government 
they deserve. 

One of the most important functions of County Councils is 
the administration of public education. In no department of 
life has the spirit of reform produced more striking changes 
than in education. At the beginning of the 19th century Eng- 
lish education suffered from two defects : its quality was poor, 
and it was restricted to members of particular denominations. 

The endowed schools, which had been founded for the edu- 
cation of poor children, had long ago been monopolised by the 
well-to-do. At the end of the 1 8th century attempts were made 
to remedy the deficiency of popular education by the establish- 
ment of charity schools. The motive was religious, and was a 
result of the great evangelical movement of the period. Two 
societies were founded, the National School Society by Church- 
men, and the British and Foreign Schools Society by Noncon- 
formists, both of which depended entirely upon private sub- 
scriptions. Their schools were organised on the monitorial 
system. All that was required to begin a school was a large 
room, such as a disused factory, and a schoolmaster. The 
schoolmaster would admit his most intelligent pupils a short 
time before the rest, and would teach them the day's lesson. 
Each p{ these monitors would then teach a class what he had 
just learnt. The schoolmaster's teaching work was over for the 
day, and he simply kept order while the monitors disgorged 
their hastily acquired information. Such a method was extremely 
cheap, and appealed to donors who liked to get their money's 
worth. It is clear, however, that the quality of the instruction 
must have been unsatisfactory. Apart from the fact that most 
of the teaching was done by children who were only a step 
beyond their class, the schoolmasters themselves frequently had 
no real qualifications, and only took to such work because they 
were incapable of any other. Many a soldier who had lost an 
arm or a leg in the wars eked out his pension by keeping 
school, either for a society, or on his own account. Even of 



ix] SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 151 

such education the supply was scanty. In 18 18 only 600,000 
children, out of more than two millions, went to school. 

When the period of reaction after Waterloo was over, re- 
form was demanded in education, as well as in other spheres. 
In 1833 Parliament made a beginning by granting _;^2o,ooo for 
the building of new schools, on condition that the societies 
paid half the expense. This was encouraging, but it was not 
enough. The schools had no real connection, and no common 
standard of work. A description of one of these schools in the 
late thirties has been given the author by a friend who attended 
it in his childhood. This particular school was held in a low 
room above the blacksmith's forge of a village in mid- Wales. 
If the schoolmaster saw a friend enter the village inn, which 
was commanded by the soHtary window of the school, he would 
join him, and leave the children to their own devices. When the 
blacksmith was engaged on a big piece of work, such as shrink- 
ing an iron rim on to a cart-wheel, the smoke found its way into 
the schoolroom, and made a short holiday necessary. The 
schoolmaster was paid ^20 a year, to which he added his 
salary as parish clerk, and an occasional fee for writing letters 
for the illiterate villagers. 

In 1839 the administration of the Parliamentary grant was 
taken from the Treasury, and handed over to a special committee 
of the Privy Council, which insisted on the inspection of schools 
receiving state aid. In the following years monitors were replaced 
by pupil teachers, the inspection was improved, and the vote 
steadily increased. By i860 the annual grant amounted to 
^^842,000. It was notorious, however, that the quaHty of the 
work was unsatisfactory, and in 186 1 the system of "payment 
by results " was instituted. Only one-third of the grant was to 
be given for attendance, the remainder depending on individual 
examinations in the "three R's". This system was expected 
to produce either efficiency or cheapness ; but its results were 
unfortunate. The teachers were forced to grind away at too 
narrow a curriculum, and the children suffered the evils of 



152 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

cramming. Half the children of the country, moreover, never 
attended school, and of those who did, half went to schools 
which received no grant, and which were therefore not inspected. 
England was far behind most civilised countries in this respect. 
The victory of Prussia over Austria in 1866 seemed the triumph 
of a nation which believed in popular education over one which 
did not. The Reform Act of 1867 gave the artisan the power 
of making and unmaking governments. "We must induce our 
masters to learn their letters," said a well-known politician. 

Gladstone's first cabinet grappled with the problem. In 
1870 W. E. Forster, Vice-President of the Council, brought in 
an important Education Bill, The question was difficult to 
handle because of the quarrel of the sects. The Nonconformists 
wanted education to be secular, compulsory, and free ; Church- 
men, remembering the splendid part played by the Church in 
education, insisted on retaining religious instruction; Forster 
gave way to neither side : his sole object was to give the country 
plenty of good schools. Where schools had not already been 
established by voluntary effort, or where the accommodation was 
insufficient, School Boards, on which women might sit, were 
to be elected by the rate-payers, and were to build schools out 
of the rates. These Boards had the option of making attendance 
compulsory, and of introducing religious teaching of an un- 
sectarian kind. In both kinds of schools, if religious instruction 
were given, it must be at the beginning or end of the day's 
work ; so that parents who objected to it might remove their 
children. Denominational schools were to receive no assistance 
from the rates ; but their Parliamentary grant was doubled. 
All schools were to be visited by Government inspectors, and 
were to use the prescribed Code. They were empowered to 
collect not more than gd. a week from each child. 

This system met with much opposition, and alienated many 
of the Government's Nonconformist supporters; but it achieved 
its object. Both the quality and the quantity of elementary 
education were improved. In 1880 children between 5 and 12 



ix] SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 153 

years of age were compelled to attend school; in 1890 the 
practice of payment by results, which had been gradually 
diminished, was altogether given up; and in 1891 elementary 
education was made free. Between 1870 and 1900 the average 
attendance increased from 1,250,000 to 4,666,000, the cost per 
child was doubled, and the grant was raised from ;;^894,ooo to 
^10,851,000. 

In 1902 Mr Balfour's government abolished the School 
Boards, and handed over their duties to the local councils 
(County, Borough, and Urban District), which discharged them 
through education committees, on which co-opted members sat. 
Voluntary schools were to be assisted out of the rates, on 
condition that one-third of their managers were appointed by 
the local authority. This provision was warmly opposed by 
Nonconformists, who carried on a "passive resistance" cam- 
paign ; but it still remains on the statute-book. It may be noted 
that education committees have recently been empowered to 
provide free medical and dental attendance, free spectacles, 
and free meals, in cases where the parents are unable to pay. 
This sketch of popular education would not be complete with- 
out reference to other agencies which have supplemented state 
action, such as evening continuation classes, extension lectures. 
Polytechnics, free libraries, workmen's clubs, and cheap editions 
of English classics. 

At the beginning of the period secondary schools suffered 
from the same defects as elementary schools : the education 
they provided was insufficient in quantity and unsatisfactory 
in quality. The endowments were often diverted from their 
proper purpose, and only the classics and a little mathematics 
were taught, to the exclusion of science, history, and modern 
languages. A series of acts passed in the sixties reformed the 
constitution of the "public schools", and gave the Charity 
Commissioners supervision over their endowments. In the 
second half of the century their curriculum was widened, mainly 
through the action of schoolmasters themselves. In 1889-91 



154 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

County Councils were empowered to establish secondary schools, 
supported partly by the fees of the pupils, partly by the rates, 
and partly by" the " whiskey money " (the surplus yielded by 
the increased excise on whiskey). The schools thus established 
have acted as a stepping-stone from the public elementary schools 
to the universities. 

The story of university reform is of a similar nature. At 
Oxford, matriculants had to declare their belief in the Thirty- 
nine Articles ; at Cambridge, Dissenters were allowed to reside 
and to sit for examinations, but only members of the Church 
of England could take their degree. At both universities 
Fellows were not allowed to marry, and were usually required 
to be in orders. At Cambridge until 1824 the only examination 
for an honours degree was the Mathematical Tripos. In that 
year the Classical Tripos was founded; but only candidates who 
had already taken the Mathematical Tripos were allowed to sit 
for it. In 1850 this restriction was removed, and in 1851 Triposes 
were instituted in Natural Science and Moral Philosophy, which 
included Law and History. Outside the universities themselves 
it was generally felt that they might do more for the nation. It 
would be absurd to deny that much good work was done ; but 
it was the exception rather than the rule. Discipline was lax, 
examinations were rare, and few men took a degree. Between 
1852 and 1882 Parliament passed acts which reformed the 
constitution of both universities, removed all religious tests for 
prizes, degrees, and offices, abolished celibate and clerical 
fellowships, and limited the tenure of ordinary fellowships to 
seven years. It was in this period that Oxford and Cambridge 
began to influence secondary education by the establishment 
of Local Examinations, and popular education by Extension 
Lectures. In the second half of the century many provincial 
universities and university colleges were founded. 

The reform of the Home Civil Service may conveniently 
be sketched here. Until 1855 all the higher posts in government 
offices were disposed of by the political head of the department, 



ix] SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 155 

the lower clerks being appointed by the Patronage Section of 
the Treasury. In order to check the open corruption which 
prevailed under this system, the Civil Service Commission was 
established in 1855 to test the qualifications of the nominees. 
After i860 three persons were to be nominated for each vacancy, 
and were to compete for the post. Finally, in 1870 all depart- 
ments in the Civil Service, with the exception of the Foreign 
Office, were thrown open to competition, with the result that 
they were able to draw on some of the most brilliant men from 
the universities. 

A word may be added about the education of women. The 
girls' schools of the first half of the century developed neither 
the minds nor the bodies of their pupils. They taught nothing 
but polite accomplishments and a mass of disconnected facts 
dignified by the name of general knowledge. Games were 
considered unladylike, and instruments of torture were used 
for moulding the figure. In 1854 a new era began with the 
foundation of Cheltenham Ladies' College, which became the 
model for other girls' schools. Girls educated at such schools 
were able to profit by a university education. In 1867 women 
were admitted to the examinations of London University ; in 
1872 Girton was founded; and in 1875 Newnham. Oxford 
and Cambridge, while admitting women to their lectures and 
examinations, have so far refused them degrees; but the younger 
universities have given them the same status as men. 

This survey has shown that education in England has 
been made infinitely more efficient during our period. The 
machinery already existing has been improved, not without 
external pressure, and it has been supplemented by the state. 
There are still educational problems which demand solution. 
In all its stages, education should have two aims : it should fit 
the pupil for his work in after life, and it should give him broad 
interests and worthy motives. The first aim should not be 
allowed to over-shadow the second. It is essential that England 
should have good doctors and good mechanics ; but it is still 



156 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. ix 

more essential that she should have good men. This is as 
important in the lower as in the higher grades. Technical 
instruction alone will not enable the artisan to spend his leisure 
profitably. He must be given counter-attractions to the "cinema" 
and the gin-palace. 



CHAPTER X 

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS (B) 

It has been seen that in the first half of the century Parliament 
was forced to abandon the principle of laissez faire in industry 
and that the insanitary conditions of the factory towns led to 
the establishment of local Boards of Health. In 1875 '^'^ 
Public Health Act handed over the duties of these Boards to 
the municipalities, which were given an admirable sanitary code. 
The campaign for public health was powerfully aided by 
Tyndall's theory that diseases were caused and spread by germs 
(1870). In 1889 local authorities were empowered to make 
the notification of infectious diseases compulsory. In 1890 a 
Housing Act gave them the right to purchase slums at their 
proper value, to pull down the insanitary buildings, and to 
erect new dwellings on the site. Laws passed at different times 
enable them to deal with nuisances of all sorts, such as insani- 
tary and overcrowded houses, the discharge by factories of 
injurious gases or excessive quantities of smoke, and the 
sale of tainted or adulterated food. If they find it necessary, 
they may build hospitals, mortuaries, and cemeteries. Some 
municipalities have used their powers with zeal and success; 
others have been over-cautious from a fear of increasing the rates. 
Unfortunately the Act of 1875 ^'^ "O^ estabhsh a strong central 
Board of Public Health, but added these new functions to the 
Poor Law Board, which was re-named the Local Government 
Board. This Board has never attempted to obtain the right of 
making grants in aid, which would enable it to force backward 
authorities to discharge their duties efficiently. In spite of this 
defect, the results achieved have been remarkable. Serious 
epidemic diseases, which used to sweep the country from end 



158 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

to end, are now nipped in the bud by the policy of notification 
and isolation. The national death-rate has fallen from 25 per 
1,000 in 1847 to less than 15 per 1,000 in 1910. 

In the second half of the century Parliament extended the 
principles of the Factory Acts to most trades and industries. 
The sailor is no longer forced to go to sea in a crazy, heavily 
insured ship, or sent to prison for breach of contract. Employers 
must compensate their workmen for accidents which arise in 
the course of their employment, even if the accidents occur 
through the negligence of the workmen, not of the management. 
Practically the whole field of labour has been covered by legis- 
lation which insists on sanitary conditions and reasonable hours 
of work. 

While the state was thus endeavouring to provide healthy 
surroundings for the working class, the workmen themselves 
were combining to secure higher wages. The problem of the 
distribution of wealth became acute after the Industrial Revolu- 
tion. Under the medieval system the worker became first an 
apprentice, then a journeyman working for wages, and finally 
a master craftsman. When every workman had a reasonable 
hope of setting up in business on his own account, and when 
every master had served as a workman, the interests of capital 
and labour were not felt to be distinct. 

Capital, in fact, hardly existed in its modern sense. But 
when machinery came in, there was a clear distinction between 
the employer and his employees. The division of labour gave 
each factory hand only one process of manufacture, and 
necessitated an organiser to co-ordinate the several processes. 
In most cases it was this organiser who provided the capital 
for the building of the factory and the purchase of the machinery. 
Under these conditions the vast majority of workmen became 
permanent wage-earners, and the interests of employers and 
men became distinct, if not conflicting. The question was, 
How were the profits to be divided between them? For a 
considerable time the employers were able to answer this 



x] SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 159 

question as they chose. The men were forced to take the 
wages offered them, or starve. The shrewdest of them saw 
that their only hope of being able to bargain with their masters 
lay in organisation. Until 1825 all attempts at forming Trade 
Unions had to be made secretly, for fear of the Combination 
Laws. In that year a limited right of combination was allowed; 
but judges were still apt to regard an agreement to strike for 
higher wages as a conspiracy, and the law, while giving Trade 
Union funds no protection against dishonest officials, awarded 
damages out of them for illegal acts committed by Trade Union 
agents. By the Law of Master and Servant, if an employer 
broke his contract he could only be sued for damages in a civil 
suit; while a workman who broke his contract committed a 
crime, for which he might be sent to prison. In such a case 
the workman could not give evidence on his own behalf. This 
law was not a dead letter : in 1863 it was invoked by employers 
in more than 10,000 cases. In spite of these disabilities, the 
funds and membership of the Unions steadily grew larger, 
particularly after the failure of the Chartist movement. Their 
main objects were to secure the payment of a standard wage 
(for either time- or piece-work), to insist that all workers in 
trades which had a Union should belong to it, to improve the 
conditions of work, and to ensure steady employment. The 
first of these aims tended to the limitation of output in time- 
work, by preventing the best workman from doing more work 
than the worst, and the second interfered with the liberty of 
men who did not wish to belong to a Union. The defenders 
of Trdde Unions upheld the first aim by arguing that a good 
workman who belonged to a Union could earn as much without 
fully exerting himself as he could by doing his utmost if he 
had to make his own terms with his employer. They defended 
the second by saying that men who paid no contributions to a 
Union should not share in the benefits won by that Union, 
and by pointing out that the same objection applied to the Bar 
or to the Stock Exchange. 



i6o GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

In the later sixties the whole question of Trade Unionism 
attracted much attention. In 1867 a Commission found that 
in some large towns Trade Unions were guilty of intimidation. 
In Sheffield men who offended the Union were killed or injured, 
or their houses were blown up at the instigation of Trade 
Union officials, who paid for these outrages out of the Trade 
Union funds. On the whole, however, the Commissioners 
found that Trade Unionists were law-abiding in their methods. 

In 1875 the Law of Master and Servant, which had been 
modified in 1867, was replaced by the Law of Employers and 
Workmen ^ which placed both parties on a perfectly equal 
footing in cases of breach of contract. An Act of x86g extended 
to the funds of Trade Unions the protection already given to 
the funds of Friendly Societies. In 1871 the principle was laid 
down that nothing which was legal when done in a trade dis- 
pute by an individual became a criminal conspiracy when done 
by a number of individuals (as the judges had held). The Act 
of 1875 gave workmen full powers of combination, even for 
the purpose of organising strikes, and allowed them to deal 
with " blacklegs " by peaceful picketing. If any acts of violence 
were committed, they could be dealt with by the ordinary 
criminal law; but the Act was understood to provide that 
damages for such acts could not be recovered from Trade 
Union funds ^ It should be noticed that this legislation followed 
the extension of the franchise to artisans. 

In their struggle for higher wages the Trade Unions have 
had frequent resort to strikes. The strike is an expensive way 
of settling a dispute, and it is by no means certain to end in 
favour of the men ; but it is their only weapon, and its use 

1 Note the change of terms. 

2 In 1901 the House of Lords, sitting in its judicial capacity, awarded 
heavy damages against the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants lor 
encouraging the men employed on the Taff Vale Railway to break their 
contracts and come out on strike. The Liberal government of 1 906 amended 
the law so as to make such a decision impossible in the future. 



x] SOCIAL MOVEMENTS i6i 

cannot be condemned without a knowledge of the rights of the 
case. In 1889, ^^^ example, 10,000 dock labourers employed 
in London demanded that they should be engaged for not less 
than 4 hours at a stretch, at not less than 6d. an hour. Wlien 
their demands were refused, they came out on strike, and were 
helped by the stevedores, who struck in sympathy. They were 
well organised by John Burns and Ben Tillett, and their cause 
aroused much sympathy : the subscriptions on their behalf 
amounted to ;!^46,ooo, every penny of which was accounted 
for. This conflict illustrated an important tendency which 
began in the eighties. The older Unions were composed of 
skilled operatives, such as engineers, who could afford to sub- 
scribe a shilling a week to the common fund. Unions were 
now formed by unskilled labourers, whose payments were not 
large enough to provide benefits, e.g. during sickness, and 
had to be reserved for ■ strike purposes. It was at about the 
same time that Trade Unionists first began to lean towards 
Socialism. 

Though it is difficult to sketch the rise of Socialism in half 

a dozen pages, the attempt must be made. Without dwelling on 

the ideas of such men as Robert Owen, Charles Kingsley, and 

John Stuart Mill, we may accept Mr Sidney Webb's statement 

that in England the effective socialist movement dates only frorr 

1 88 1. In those days Henry George was using Ricardo's theory 

of rent as an argument in favour of land nationalisation. Such 

a proposal, however, had little interest for the artisan, who was 

concerned, not with the landlord, but with the capitalist. Henry 

George's lectures and writings helped to attract the attention of 

working men to the doctrines of Karl Marx, whose Communist 

Manifesto had been published in 1848. Marx declared that there 

were only two factors in the production of wealth : land, which 

included all the aid man received from Nature, and labour, by 

which he meant manual labour alone. He therefore maintained 

that the value of an article depended on the amount of labour 

which had been expended on it. Since capital, according to 



i62 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

this analysis, was not essential, the profits received by capitalists 
were unjustly acquired, and it was the duty of the state to take 
over the means of production in all industries. 

This statement of the case was naturally welcome to men 
who were dissatisfied with their share of the profits of industry. 
It was open, however, to a serious criticism. In practice, the 
value of an article does not depend simply upon the manual 
labour needed to make it. The value of this book, for example, 
depends partly, but not mainly, upon the number of hours the 
compositors and book-binders have taken to print and bind it. 
They may have spent precisely the same time over another book 
which sells ten times as well as this. The fact is that the 
compositor simply carries out the instructions of the author, 
who is almost entirely responsible for the quality of the work. 
Every author, moreover, has to find a publisher for his book. 
The success of the pubHsher will depend on his skill in gauging 
the public taste : if, from the books submitted to him, he chooses 
one which does not appeal to the public, he may be left with 
hundreds of copies on his hands, however well the printers have 
done their work. If he makes too many such mistakes he will, 
lose his capital, for he has to pay his employees whether the 
books they print sell or not. 

It is evident, therefore, that managing or directing ability 
is needed at the head of a business enterprise. Under com- 
petitive conditions, men with such ability come to the front 
automatically. They seem to "turn everything they touch into 
gold," which, used as capital, enables them to conduct their 
operations on a larger scale. If men who do not possess such 
ability attempt to manage businesses, they gradually lose their 
capital, and are no longer able to control the labour of others. 
The whole of history emphasizes the importance of leaders and 
organisers. Pitt, Clive, Wolfe, Anson and Hawke gave us the 
victory in the Seven Years' War; North, Sandwich, and Germain 
lost us our American colonies. There are Napoleons of trade 
and industry. 



xj SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 163 

The importance of inventive ability is still more obvious. 
It has been calculated that the steam engine has dispensed with 
the labour of a thousand million men. James Watt's brains have 
performed more manual work than a nation of Samsons could 
have accomplished. A factory hand can look after three or four 
power-looms, which weave more cloth than a dozen hand- 
weavers. Yet far more manual skill is required to work a hand- 
loom than to look after a power-loom. It is the inventor, not 
the factory hand, who is doing the work of the eleven extra men. 

In the nineties thoughtful Socialists admitted that ability 
was an essential factor in modern production; but they still 
aimed at the nationalisation of industry, because they refused 
to believe that competition was the only means of putting men 
who possessed such ability into responsible positions. They 
took the question out of the realm of academic discussion, and 
used arguments drawn from experience. They instanced the 
rapid development of the co-operative movement. They pointed 
to the enormous growth of the joint-stock principle, by which 
the owners had no real knowledge of the enterprise and took no 
active part in its management, becoming, in fact, "absentee 
employers". If the share-holders of a railway company could 
secure men of ability to act as managers and engineers, the state 
could do the same. They condemned the formation of trusts, 
rings, and combines, by which the consumer experienced the 
disadvantages of the competitive system without its benefits. 
If trade and industry could be conducted on such a scale for 
the profit of individuals, they argued, they could be conducted 
on a national scale for the benefit of the community ^ 

A still stronger argument was the extent to which the state 
had already gone into business. Examples have already been 

1 It may be noted that one of the advantages of state trading is that it 
prevents overlapping. In England, for example, there are at present 
396,500 retail tobacconists' shops; while in France, where tobacco is a 
government monopoly, there are only 45,000. On the other hand, the 
quality of French tobacco is notorious ! ' 



1 64 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

given of municipal business undertakings ; it remains to consider 
similar enterprises on the part of the central government. At 
the beginning of the 19th century the state spent money on 
defence, the maintenance of order, and the administration of 
justice. While it thus provided favourable conditions for the 
accumulation of wealth by its subjects, its own activities were 
not of an economic character. By the end of the century it had 
embarked on many enterprises of a profitable nature which had 
previously been conducted by capitalists. The English govern- 
ment now acts as a letter-carrier, banker, insurance agent, ship 
builder, contractor, schoolmaster, analyst, and doctor. In Egypt 
it has spent millions of pounds on irrigation ; in India it derives 
a revenue of over ;^2,ooo,ooo a year from its forests. "I am 
a coal and tin miner in Nigeria," said the Colonial Secretary in 
1 9 14, "a gold miner in Guiana. I seek timber in one colony, oil 
and nuts in another, cocoa in a third. Copra and copal, seisal and 
hemp, cotton, coffee, tobacco are common objects of my daily 
care." He might have added that in Malta he was a pawnbroker. 
The war has led the British Government to undertake the 
whole importation of wheat, sugar, wool, and certain metals, to 
take over the working of railways and coal-mines, and to control 
almost every industry. "Whether we import or export, mine or 
manufacture, grow or prepare, transport or deliver, warehouse 
or retail any commodities whatsoever, we usually find, if we are 
capitalist entrepreneurs^ that we can no longer do so exactly as 
we choose, with a view to deriving from the transaction the 
largest pecuniary profit; but that we have become subject to 
quite stringent regulations, which are more and more effectively 
enforced, often dictating to us the material we are to use, the 
price that we are to pay for it, the process that we are to employ, 
the wages that we shall pay, the particular kinds of commodities 
to be made, the order in which the several jobs are to be done, 
the person to whom the goods are to be delivered, the way they 
are to be transported and the price that we are to charged" On 
^ The New Siatesmatt, Nov. 17, 1917. 



x] SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 165 

the other hand, their experience of Government Offices during 
the war has converted some SociaHsts to Individualism. 

The altered nature of the state may be compared with the 
change in the British army. In the time of the Napoleonic Wars 
the British soldier was a professional, who had enlisted for life, 
and the only functions of the state were military. The men of 
the New Army were essentially civilians, who had thrown down 
their tools for the rifle, only to resume them after the war. 
Similarly, fighting is not the main business of the modern state, 
which is primarily a huge industrial concern. 

This change in the functions of the state is seen even more 
clearly abroad. Half the railway mileage of the world is owned 
and worked by the government : only in Great Britain and the 
United States are railways left entirely to capitalists. Some 
countries own lines of steamboats, others canals, others mines, 
others shops. "If," says Mr Sidney Webb, "in all the countries 
of the civilised world, those industries and services which are 
to-day being governmentally administered in one or other of the 
countries were brought under public administration, such an 
increase, without adding a single fresh industry or service to 
those already successfully nationalised or municipalised in one 
country or another, would probably bring into the direct employ- 
ment of the national or local government an actual majority of 
the adult population." 

The modern state has not entered business because of the 
theoretical advantages of Socialism ; it has done so step by step, 
on the advice of practical men, for practical reasons. A great 
propelling force has been the growing realisation of the solidarity 
of the race, especially in public health. This realisation has led 
the state to undertake enterprises which would not pay a 
capitalist, but which are for the common good. An isolation 
hospital, for instance, benefits, not so much those who are 
treated in it, as those who never enter it. Again, it is to the 
advantage of the community that water should be cheap and 
plentiful, that large towns should be provided with parks, and 



i66 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

that every citizen should be educated up to a certain standard. 
Apart from the fact that pubUc money spent on such objects 
means public money saved in poor relief, in the detection of 
crime, and in the maintenance of criminals ; it is to the advantage 
of the state that its subjects should be physically and mentally fit, 

By the beginning of the 20th century, leading Socialists had 
given up the idea of constructing a ready-made Utopia by con- 
fiscating all private property at a stroke, and were willing to 
attain their ends by more gradual methods. This meant that 
they gave their support to such measures as Mr Lloyd George's 
1909 budget. Old Age Pensions, and the Insurance Act, regarding 
them as steps towards the nationalisation of property. Modern 
Socialism, then, may be regarded as collective effort become 
self-conscious, as the application of democracy to economic life. 

The opponents of this gradual extension of state action until 
complete Socialism is attained rely mainly on three arguments, 
which can only be briefly summarised. The first is economic. 
As we have seen, competition ensures that men who possess 
business ability should direct others, and that men without this 
ability should lose the capital they started with, and with it the 
power to control business organisation. The opponents of 
Socialism maintain that the only test of business ability is success 
in business, and that state officials with assured salaries could 
not pass or fail in this test. The second objection is biological, 
and consists in the social application of the laws of heredity 
known as Eugenics. The recent progress of biology has laid 
stress on the definite manner in which qualities are transmitted 
from one generation to another. Eugenists argue that, by helping 
the poor and the weak at the expense of the rich and the strong, 
the state is encouraging breeding from the worst stock, which 
would die out if the laws of nature were left to work without 
checks The third objection is ethical, and asserts that if state 
action is carried much further, the working man will lose his 

^ It must be noticed, however, that Eugenists are anxious for state action 
to prevent the marriage of the unfit. 



x] SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 167 

independence and his capacity to help himself. To deal with 
the Socialist reply to these arguments would raise further issues 
for which there is no space. Enough has been said to show that 
Socialism is likely to become one of the great questions of 
20th century English politics. Before leaving the subject, we 
may notice one further point. 

While the ideals sketched above represent the standpoint of 
educated Socialists, the Socialism preached to workmen is still 
largely Marxian. Holding that all wealth is produced by the 
labourer, it regards the capitalist as a parasite, and aims at 
immediate and sweeping change. During the coal strike of 1 9 1 2 
some of the extremists in the Rhondda Valley published a 
manifesto demanding "that the old policy of identity of interest 
between employers and ourselves be abolished and a policy of 
open hostility installed, and that a continual agitation be carried 
on in favour of increasing the minimum wage and shortening 
the hours of work until we have extracted the whole of the 
employer's profits." Such views are held by a very small pro- 
portion of workmen; but those who hold them are very active 
and look like capturing the organisation of some Trade Unions, 
because the more moderate men refuse to take the trouble to 
attend lodge meetings. They openly sow discontent against 
leaders of the old-fashioned type, whose ideas have been 
broadened by conferences with the masters. The result is 
a loosening of discipline and a tendency toward sectional strikes 
which alienates public sympathy and weakens the cause of 
labour. 

It is important for the working-man to realise that, under 
competition or under Socialism, men of ability must lead, and 
that absolute equality is as impossible in modern industry as it 
would be in a man-of-war. If foreign competition is to be 
successfully met, British brains and British manual skill must 
both do their part. On the other hand, employers should under- 
stand that one of the main objects of Trade Unions is a recogni- 
tion that artisans are not "hands ", but men. It is our boast that 



i68 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [cH. 

British soldiers are led by their ofificers, not driven. What is 
counted a virtue in war can hardly be considered a vice in peace. 
It has been said that one of the characteristics of 19th century 
history has been the progress made in natural science. From 
the practical standpoint, science has been a more important 
factor in recent developments of the Industrial Revolution than 
in its early stages. From the theoretical point of view it has 
added enormously to human knowledge, and its more obvious 
lessons have been disseminated by newspapers and by popular 
lectures. Just as the Industrial Revolution has altered the 
natural world in which we live, so has science altered our mental 
world. The scientist regards the universe as a system, governed 
by fixed laws. As Professor Huxley said, "The form of the curl 
of every wave that breaks, wind-driven, on the sea-shore, and 
the direction of every particle of foam that flies before the gale, 
are the exact effects of definite causes." Perhaps the most im- 
portant event in our period was the formulation of the theory 
of evolution. The idea that man was descended from a lower 
form of life was in existence before Darwin pubUshed his Origin 
of Species (1859); but it was he who first gave it a scientific basis. 
His conclusions, which were violently opposed at first, even by 
scientists, were gradually applied, not only to the other sciences, 
such as geology and physics, but to subjects like history and 
theology. The theory of evolution applies even to itself; for 
Darwinism has developed into Mendelism. The ordinary man 
is perhaps more impressed by the practical applications of science 
than by its mental outlook; but he is bound to learn something 
of the scientific spirit. Similarly, while science has had little 
direct influence on pofitics up to the present, it has formed an 
important element of the mental atmosphere in which political 
ideas grow up. Evolution, for instance, by emphasising the 
gradual character of the changes in Nature, predisposes many to 
condemn the violent changes in political and economic life 
advocated by extreme Socialists. On the other hand, it supplies 
arguments to the advocates of social reform. Evolution lays 



x] % SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 169 

more stress on the species than on the individual; but it values 
the individual for the sake of the race. Biology has come to the 
assistance of the humanitarian crusade for child welfare. 

The literature, art, and music of the century cannot be 
discussed here. Their influence upon national character and 
tastes has been great; but the best art and literature of the 
19th century is so well known as to need no description. From 
the historical and social point of view, the most important fact is 
the enormous increase of popular literature — seven-penny novels, 
cheap magazines, and newspapers. While the importance and 
influence of newspapers has steadily increased during the past 
century, it is hard to decide whether they do more good or harm. 
From the standpoint of the historian their most glaring fault is 
lack of proportion and perspective. Whether events are taking 
place on which the future of the world depends, or whether 
nothing of any real importance is happening, the size of the 
newspaper is the same. Again, editorial comment, especially on 
politics, is often violently prejudiced. One party consists of able 
and upright statesmen who can do no wrong; the other, of 
political adventurers who are at once incompetent and un- 
scrupulous. It would indeed be difficult to write history from 
newspapers alone. The third great fault of newspapers is one 
which concerns, not so much the historian, as the more ignorant 
of their readers. A newspaper is primarily a business concern, 
which derives a large proportion of its income from advertise- 
ments. Most newspapers and magazines refuse to act as censors 
of the advertisements they receive, save to a limited extent. 
They open their columns to the fraudulent company promoter, 
to the money-lender who charges exorbitant interest, to the 
vendor of a patent medicine which cures all ills. 

The most important social forces of the 19th century have 
now been described, and the question naturally arises whether, 
on the whole, they have made the nation stronger or weaker, 
better or worse, happier or less contented. 



I70 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. 

There is no doubt, in the first place, that the population and 
wealth of the country have increased to a remarkable extent. 
The population of the British Isles grew from 19,000,000 in 1816 
to 41,458,000 in 1 90 1, and wealth increased even more rapidly. 

The peace revenue of the United Kingdom rose from 
;^62, 264,546 in 1816 to ;z{^i 98, 243,000 in 1913-14, and the 
war revenue from ;^72, 210,512 in 1815 to ;^707,235,ooo in 
1917-18. 

When one examines the habits of the upper and middle 
classes, one notices an increase of luxury, but also much less 
coarseness, more rational amusements, and greater consideration 
for the lower classes. 

The working class is better off than it was at the beginning 
of the 19th century. Now most artisans are paid good wages, 
and work for reasonable periods under healthy conditions. Their 
food is cheaper. They have conveniences which even the rich 
did not enjoy a century ago: the "penny in the slot" meter, for 
instance, enables all but the very poorest to use gas. There are 
few British artisans who cannot take their wives and families to 
the seaside for a fortnigjit every year, and some of them own 
motor bicycles, or even cheap cars. 

On the other hand, it is easy to be too complacent. The 
men who lived in England a century ago had few of our advan- 
tages, but it is to them that we owe these advantages. They 
left their country better than they found it. Will future ages be 
able to say the same of us ; or will they wonder at our tolerance 
of conditions which to them may seem monstrous ? For there 
are still serious evils in our country which call for remedy. 
There are still " sweated " trades, in which the workers are paid 
such miserably low wages that they find it difficult to keep body 
and soul together. There is still a terrible amount of prevent- 
able disease — tuberculosis alone causes 50,000 deaths in these 
islands every year. In his annual report for 191 5 the Chief 
Medical Officer of the Board of Education estimated that, out 
of nearly 6,000,000 elementary school children, no less than 



x] SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 171 

1,000,000 were so physically or mentally defective as to be un- 
able to derive reasonable benefit from the education provided 
by the state. Infantile mortality (91 per 1,000 in 1916) is still 
much higher than it need be. This may be attributed partly to 
ignorance : the death-rate among infants at Ghent fell from 260 
to 34 per 1,000 after the establishment there of the first school 
for mothers (1904). The main cause, however, is overcrowding : 
in some of our most prosperous mining and manufacturing dis- 
tricts the rate is four times as high as that of Irish rural districts, 
or even that of some English towns which have not been much 
affected by the Industrial Revolution. In the census of 191 1 
there were over 4,000,000 people in the United Kingdom living 
more than two to a room ; in such a progressive city as Glasgow 
a quarter of the inhabitants live three to a room. It has been 
estimated that a million new houses ought to be built as part 
of the reconstruction after the war. 

All this, it may be said, is only the material side of life. 
There are observers who declare that the division of labour 
focuses the life of the factory employee to a tiny point, that by 
going through the same operation day after day, and week after 
week, he loses his individuality and becomes a mere cog in the 
machinery. When he leaves the factory, they say, there is 
nothing in his surroundings to elevate and broaden his mind. 
He derives his ideas of art from the "cinema", of music from the 
music hall, of literature from the evening paper, and of politics 
and political economy from noisy demagogues. It is impossible 
to deny that there is much truth in these statements. The work 
of the medieval craftsman was infinitely more varied than that 
of the modern artisan. But the point is that the Industrial 
Revolution has come to stay, that its social effects were seen 
at their worst at the beginning of the 19th century, and that 
they have been steadily improving ever since. The working 
man has far more opportunities, not only of improving his posi- 
tion, but of improving himself, than he had a century ago. He 
has his leisure, which he can either use or waste. 



172 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND [ch. x 

To sum up, the 19th century was a period of big things, 
of the construction of bridges thousands of yards, and of rail- 
ways thousands of miles in length, of the growth of enormous 
towns, of the formation of huge trading and manufacturing 
concerns. The vast scale of modern enterprise would become 
oppressive were it not for the other characteristics of the period, 
the steady growth of liberty, the widening of opportunity, the 
uprooting of abuses, the greater sympathy for the unfortunate. 
When one examines the social evils of a century ago and sees 
how successfully they have been attacked, one must needs be 
an optimist. 



PART II 
THE BRITISH EMPIRE 



INTRODUCTORY 

At the outset of this chapter we should remind ourselves of the 
distinction between colonies and dependencies, between the 
"sphere of settlement" and the "sphere of rule". If we take 
extreme cases, such as Australia and Nigeria, we notice that the 
former contains a large number of white men, mainly of British 
origin, who are engaged in various occupations, who have made 
the colony their real home, where they bring up their children, 
and who enjoy complete rights of self-government under the 
British Crown. In the latter the Governor is practically des- 
potic ; nearly all the inhabitants are native ; the small white 
population consists almost entirely of government officials and 
traders, who send their children home to be educated, and who 
have themselves to come home at regular intervals for the sake 
of their health. At the root of all other differences lies the 
difference in climate, and since there is no sharp division be- 
tween the temperate and tropical zones, the British Empire 
contains examples of all the political gradations between the 
typical colony and the typical dependency. 

This broad distinction was not easy to discern a century ago. 
The earliest colonies, it is true, had enjoyed considerable poli- 
tical liberty, but their economic life had always been regulated 
in the supposed interests of the mother country. The Mercan- 
tile System, founded during the Commonwealth and extended 
during the i8th century, made the test of Empire economic. 
The material welfare of the colonies was subordinated to that of 
Great Britain, whose manufacturers and ship-owners enjoyed a 
monopoly in colonial markets and ports. The interests of the 
colonists were regarded only when they did not clash with those of 
Englishmen at home : colonial products which could not be grown 
in England were given a preference over those of foreign countries. 



176 THE BRITISH EMPIRE 

This point of view was challenged when the revolt of the 
American Colonies emphasised other than economic factors. 
Their loss ushered ih a period of depression and disillusion- 
ment. At the close of the American War several other countries 
possessed richer and more populous colonies than Great Britain. 
The British Empire then consisted of the scattered dominions 
of the East India Company, a fraction of the modern Dominion 
of Canada, Newfoundland, Gibraltar, Jamaica, Barbados and a 
few small West Indian Islands, and some trading stations on the 
West Coast of Africa. Australia had just been formally annexed, 
but was not used even as a convict settlement. Such an Em- 
pire, it was thought, hardly needed a separate department for 
its administration : in 1782 the Board of Trade and Plantations 
was abolished, and the colonies were placed under the control 
of the Home Secretary. 

Thanks to her sea-power, Great Britain conquered nearly all 
the colonies of France and her allies during the Revolutionary 
and Napoleonic Wars (1793— 181 5). At the Congress of Vienna 
she restored most of them, retaining Malta, the Ionian Islands^ 
the Cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, Ceylon, Heligoland ^ St 
Lucia, Trinidad and Demerara. The first five of these show the 
importance attached to India ; Heligoland had been seized as 
a base for smuggling when Napoleon closed the German ports 
to British goods ; and the West Indian islands were valued for 
their trade. 

The capture of enemy colonies during the war had suggested 
the possibility of rebuilding the Empire and had led to the ap- 
pointment of a new Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. 
There was, however, an important change of policy. Before the 
American War the colonies had enjoyed considerable powers 
of self-government and had been mainly responsible for their 
own safety. Now they were brought more closely under the 
political, as well as the economic, control of Great Britain, who 
in return undertook their defence. As an illustration of the 
^ Greek since 1864. ^ German since 1890. 



INTRODUCTORY i77 

interference of the mother country in the purely domestic affairs 
of the colonies, we may notice that a social and economic revo- 
lution like the abolition of slavery could be accomplished by 
the British Government against the will of the colonists affected. 

In the second quarter of the 19th century the Mercantile 
System disappeared piece-meal under the attacks of Hus- 
kisson and Peel, while Durham's mission to. Canada in 
1838 paved the way for colonial self-government. Between 
1846 and 1872 Canada, Newfoundland, the Australian Colonies 
(except Westralia), New Zealand and Cape Colony were given 
full control over their internal affairs, including their fiscal policy. 

Roughly speaking, the Tories gave the colonies economic, 
the Whigs political, freedom, i.e. each party surrendered what 
the other prized. The Tories abolished the Mercantile System 
in the interests of Great Britain, not of the colonists ; the 
Whigs had valued colonies almost entirely for the sake of their 
regulated trade, and now questioned their worth. While the 
Whigs undoubtedly believed they were conferring a priceless 
boon on the colonies in granting them self-government, they 
took little pains to make the gift acceptable : they left the im- 
pression that they were eager to rid themselves of the burden 
of Empire and to leave the colonists to sink or swim by them- 
selves. To the Tories the political authority thus given up had 
been the main argument in favour of Empire : if colonies did 
not add directly to the power of Great Britain, what was their 
use? Then, in the sixties, all British troops were withdrawn from 
the colonies, with the exception of some few garrisons at im- 
portant points. This was really the strategic side of the army 
reforms consequent on the Crimean War, and was based on the 
sound principle of concentration instead of dissipation of force. 
But this was the very period when the doctrines of the Man- 
chester School were beginning to exert their greatest influence 
on English politics. Adam Smith had concluded his Wealth of 
Nations by declaring that, if any of the provinces of the British 
Empire could not be made to contribute towards the support 



178 THE BRITISH EMPIRE 

of the whole Empire, Great Britain should free herself from the 
expense of defending them in time of war and of supporting any 
part of their civil or military establishments in time of peace. 
His disciples found the numerous colonial wars, particularly in 
South Africa and New Zealand, an obstacle to their programme 
of " Peace, Retrenchment and Reform ". Until the eighties, they 
did much to popularise among all parties the view that the 
inevitable result of colonial self-government would be separation, 
and that only a realisation of this fact could prevent bad feeling 
when the dissolution came. 

So far we have regarded the Empire objectively, as it 
appeared to British statesmen ; but the attitude of the colonies 
towards Great Britain during this period was hardly more en- 
couraging. They showed a disposition to guard their newly- won 
rights with the utmost jealousy, to talk of separation if they w.ere 
crossed in any way, to forget that they still owed their freedom 
and safety to the country which had spent blood and treasure 
on their foundation. 

The relations between Great Britain and the self-governing 
colonies have often been translated into terms of family life. 
During this period Great Britain may be compared to a warm- 
hearted but crusty old squire, whose high-spirited sons feel that 
they are old enough to be their own masters and to go into the 
world to seek their fortunes. At one time the father would have 
tried to keep them under his control a little longer ; but he has 
never forgotten the violent quarrel he had on this very subject 
with his eldest son. His determination to avoid the recurrence 
of such a scene makes him yield with a readiness which his sons 
interpret as indifference to their welfare. They go their own 
way ; they meet with difficulties ; they learn from their mistakes ; 
they achieve great things ; but they rarely write home about 
their failures and their successes. 

Fortunately this is not the end of the parable : forces were 
already at work which were destined to bring father and sons 
together once more. Before, however, we examine the tenden- 



INTRODUCTORY 179 

cies of the last generation, we should study the separate fortunes 
of those colonies and dependencies which have most affected the 
history of Great Britain during the past century. It will be con- 
venient to begin with Canada, whose political development 
preceded and influenced that of the other self-governing 
colonies. 



12- 



CHAPTER XI 

CANADA 

The history of British Canada may be said to begin with the 
Seven Years' War, with the work of Pitt, Wolfe, and Amherst. 
It is true that part of the modern Dominion was ah-eady British : 
the Hudson Bay Company's charter included that vast and ill- 
defined territory known as Rupert's Land, and Nova Scotia had 
been British for half a century. But Canada proper, the valley 
of the St Lawrence, was discovered and settled by the French. 

The first impressions of the French explorers were unfavour- 
able. The north bank of the St Lawrence is rocky and barren ; 
the south bank is the mountainous Gaspd Peninsula. Above 
Quebec, however, there is a fertile strip of plain on both sides 
of the river, which became the home of French colonists. The 
natural strength of Quebec and the fact that it was the gateway 
into the colony made it the capital of French Canada. The 
growth of Montreal, on an island at the junction of the St Law- 
rence and the Ottawa, and just below the first rapids, is equally 
easy to understand. On the south bank of the river the plain 
rises towards the Appalachian Mountains ; on the north bank 
it is bounded by the southern rim of the "Archaean horse- 
shoe", the granite plateau which slopes gently from east, south, 
and west towards Hudson Bay \ 

Here, then, in a string of villages along both banks between 
Quebec and Montreal, dwelt the 60,000 Frenchmen who be- 

1 The boundary of this barren district is roughly a line drawn from the 
mouth of the Mackenzie to the Lake of the Woods and thence by way of 
Georgian Bay to the south-east of Labrador. Here and there are folds of 
rock which are very rich in nickel, silver, copper, iron and other pre- 
carboniferous minerals. 



CH.xi] CANADA i8i 

came British subjects at the Peace of Paris in 1763. From the 
first they had been kept in restraint : French Canada was the 
work of the Crown, and its government was highly centralized 
and despotic. The habitans held their farms on a feudal tenure, 
paying their seigniors certain fixed dues, fines on alienation, and 
one fish in every eleven they caught. The labour services which 
were so irksome to the serf in France were unknown in Canada. 
Beyond this settled district there roamed the voyageurs and 
coureurs de bois, who made their way as far as the Rockies, fra- 
ternising with the Indians and partly adopting their manners, 
subject to no discipline such as bound their compatriots, and 
therefore leaving no trace of their existence in the Canada of 
to-day. 

What policy was Great Britain to adopt towards her new 
subjects ? On the one hand, it could hardly be doubted that 
the future of North America lay with the Anglo-Saxon race, 
which outnumbered the French by twenty to one. On the other 
hand, the Prussian policy of rigidly suppressing all types of 
civilisation but its own had not been invented, and, if it had, 
would have been contrary to British traditions. So the French 
Canadians were guaranteed the free exercise of their religion 
(at a time when Roman Catholicism was proscribed in Great 
Britain) and were allowed to retain their civil, though not their 
criminal, law. The first Governors were soldiers, whose authority 
was little restricted by the existence after 1774 of a Legislative 
Council appointed by the Crown. On the whole they showed 
great sympathy and tact in dealing with the Canadians, who 
had always been accustomed to autocratic rule. When the thir- 
teen American colonies revolted, their political theories awoke 
no echo in Canada, which remained loyal to Great Britain. 

Not all the American colonists rebelled. Many who were 
willing to admit the existence of grievances and abuses held 
that they were not serious enough to justify what was practically 
civil war. Large numbers of loyalists fought as militiamen in 
the British armies. At the Treaty of Versailles (1783) the 



i82 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

Americans promised that a full amnesty should be extended to 
these men and that they should be allowed to resume possession 
of their property. This pledge was very imperfectly redeemed. 
Some of the loyalists were tarred and feathered, others were 
shot or hanged, and most of the remainder were driven into 
exile, 

Even in the early days of the war the more pacific of the 
loyalists who lived near the coast had taken ship to Nova 
Scotia, whose population of 14,000 was trebled by 1 784. Of the 
immigrants some 10,000 settled on the mainland, west of the 
Isthmus of Chignecto, and in that year this district was made 
into the separate colony of New Brunswick, with a represen- 
tative assembly like that of the parent colony. The other exiles, 
to the number of over 10,000, went to the upper St Lawrence, 
to the triangle between Georgian Bay, the Detroit, and the 
junction of the Ottawa and the St Lawrence. This country, 
which was a continuation of the fertile St Lawrence plain, con- 
tained only a handful of French settlers and was in a wild state. 
Many of the newcomers were professional men whose previous 
experience had not fitted them for the hardships of a pioneer's 
life. 

The loyalists who settled in Canada demanded the free in- 
stitutions to which they had previously been accustomed, and 
which had been given at once to those who had gone to New 
Brunswick. But if Canada were granted representative institu- 
tions, how would the two races work together? After much 
deliberation, Pitt divided Canada into two, with the Ottawa as 
the boundary, giving each half a representative Assembly and a 
Legislative Council, whose members were appointed for life by 
the Crown. Trade and customs duties remained under the con- 
trol of the Home Government ; but the revenues derived from 
them were placed at the disposal of the colonial legislatures 
(1791). Thus the British in Upper, and the French in Lower, 
Canada would, so it was thought, be able to manage their own 
affairs without friction. 



xi] CANADA 183 

For a short time this system seemed to work well. In the 
American War of 181 2-1 814 Upper Canada saved itself by its 
own efforts from the determined attacks made by the Americans, 
and the French Canadians repulsed the one serious attempt 
directed against Lower Canada. Yet, a quarter of a century 
after these proofs of loyalty, rebellions broke out in both 
colonies. It is worth our while to examine the causes of dis- 
content and the remedies which were applied, since they have 
a direct bearing on the relations between a colony and the 
mother country. 

It will be simpler to take the case of Upper Canada first. 
At the outset, we must notice the importance of immigration. 
The misery of the working classes in Great Britain after Waterloo 
led to the formation of emigration societies, composed largely 
of philanthropists who wished to send the unemployed to 
countries where labour was needed. The stream of emigration 
from the United Kingdom to Canada steadily increased until 
1 83 1, when 50,000 immigrants arrived at Quebec. The great 
majority naturally went on to Upper Canada. What was the 
nature of the political and economic system they found there ? 

The constitution of 1791 bore a close resemblance to the 
English constitution in the time of Edward I or Henry VIII. 
The executive power was in the hands of the Crown, represented 
by the Governor, who was assisted by an Executive Council of 
nominees. The elective Assembly could criticise, but not control, 
the action of the officials, who were responsible solely to the 
Governor, just as he was responsible to the British Colonial 
Secretary. Such a system enables the Executive to keep in 
touch with public opinion without losing its freedom of action. 
But the British immigrants into Upper Canada had been 
accustomed to the doctrine of ministerial responsibility, and 
regarded an Executive which was not responsible to the Legisla- 
ture as an anachronism. The higher posts in the administration 
were monopolised by a group who came to be known as the 
"Family Compact", though they were not so much a caste as 



1 84 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

a clique. It is only fair to say that as a body these men were 
able and patriotic, and that the majority in the Assembly 
frequently approved of their policy. When, however, the Opposi- 
tion gained a majority, it did not in consequence become the 
Government: its resolutions could do nothing to remove the 
Family Compact from power. 

Closely connected with the constitutional dispute was the 
land question. All lands in Canada which were not in private 
ownership in 1763 (which meant practically the whole of Upper 
Canada) belonged to the Crown by right of conquest. Un- 
fortunately the Government made lavish grants of land without 
insisting on its occupation and cultivation. The very Act which 
aimed at preventing the grant of more than 200 acres to any 
one person was used to give some individuals grants of 5,000 or 
10,000 acres each. Out of the 17,600,000 acres which had been 
surveyed in 1838, only 1,147,000 remained at the disposal of 
the Crown, Of the lands which had been alienated, only 
100,000 acres had been sold, and less than 600,000 acres had 
been disposed of between 1825 and 1838, when the population 
had increased from 150,000 to 400,000. By far the greater part 
of the land had fallen into the hands of speculators who had no 
intention of clearing it, but hoped that its value would be 
increased by the labour oi bona fide settlers in the neighbourhood. 

Another feature of the land system aroused religious dis- 
sensions. The Act of 1 79 1 provided that whenever Crown lands 
were alienated, one-eighth was to be reserved for the endowment 
of a Protestant clergy. In practice more than one-seventh was 
so reserved, and none of this land was sold or cultivated before 
1827. A fierce dispute arose as to the meaning of the term 
"Protestant", the Family Compact alleging that it meant 
Anglican, the Opposition protesting against the endowment of 
a Church whose adherents were less numerous than the 
Methodists, Presbyterians, and Roman CathoUcs. 

Owihig to the reckless grants of Crown lands and the existence 
of the "Clergy Reserves", the settlement of Upper Canada was 



xi] CANADA 185 

seriously hampered. Many an immigrant was discouraged to 
find that the holding assigned to him was separated from the 
nearest farm or town by a trackless wilderness, and that, even 
if he cleared the ground, he would find it almost impossible to 
take his produce to market. More than half the immigrants 
into Upper Canada gave up the attempt in despair and went 
to the United States, where they would find popular government, 
good roads, and close settlement. 

The elements of discontent were organised by Mackenzie, 
a fiery journahst who was five times expelled from the Assembly. 
In 1836 an equally hot-headed man. Sir F. B. Head, became 
Governor. By the end of 1837 Head had goaded the extreme 
reformers into the belief that their only hope lay in an armed 
rising. In December a feeble attack on Toronto by Mackenzie 
and a few hundred followers was easily repulsed, and the rebel- 
lion in Upper Canada was virtually over. 

In Lower Canada there were no religious disputes, and the 
disposal of Crown lands did not directly affect the French 
Canadians of the seigniories. The main cause of unrest was 
racial jealousy, which first appeared at the beginning of 
the 19th century. The Englishmen who settled in Lower 
Canada were mainly engaged in trade, which they created and 
monopolised. They accordingly advocated the taxation of land, 
while the French wished the whole revenue to be raised by 
customs duties. This intrusion of a bustling, alien, commercial 
element alarmed the French, who, feeling their nationality 
threatened, determined to use to the utmost the powers granted , 
them under the constitution of 1791. The Governor might 
appoint Englishmen as officials, but he could not pay them 
unless the Assembly passed the Budget. Unaccustomed to 
representative institutions, and resenting their exclusion from 
office, the French members of the Assembly used their over- 
whelming majority without moderation and made the constitu- 
tion unworkable. They recast Budgets, cutting down ,or 
abolishing the salaries of officials who had displeased them, and 



i86 THE BRITISPI EMPIRE [ch. 

spending the sums thus gained on local bridges or roads. They 
worried the Government by perpetual enquiries and impeach- 
ments. They made a habit of limiting the force of the laws 
they passed to one year. The most conciliatory Governors 
were unable to work harmoniously with them, and not alh; 
Governors were conciHatory. 

In everyday life the two races had no relations with each 
other. They would not meet at dinner-parties or on charity 
committees ; at agricultural shows there were separate competi- 
tions and separate prizes ; on the St Lawrence there were 
English steamboats for the English, and French steamboats for 
the French. 

The continued refusal of the Assembly to make provision 
for the administration at last roused the Home Government to 
action. In the spring of 1837 Lord John Russell proposed in 
the House of Commons that the Receiver-General of Lower 
Canada should be empowered to pay the salaries of the 
permanent officials without authorisation from the Legislature. 
This brought matters to a head. The summer was spent by 
both sides in drilling, and in November they came into 
collision in the streets of Montreal. Thanks largely to the 
influence of the Roman Catholic bishop and his clergy, only a 
very small proportion of the French Canadians took part in 
the rising which followed. A sufficient number of troops had 
been concentrated to deal with it, and order was soon restored. 

Though the rebellions of 1837 were the work of insignificant 
minorities and were easily suppressed, they made a change 
inevitable. The British Government suspended the constitutions 
of the two Canadas and sent out Lord Durham to report on 
the affairs of British North America. The son-in-law of Earl 
Grey, Durham had held office in the Whig cabinet, and had 
been a member of the committee which drafted the Reform 
Bill. A man of brilliant parts and remarkable foresight, he was 
wanting in tact and could not control his temper in debate. 
These characteristics were clearly revealed in his mission. His 



xi] CANADA 187 

use of the dictatorial powers conferred on him was sharply 
criticised in Parliament ; he received only lukewarm support from 
Lord Melbourne ; and he resigned his post after having been in 
Canada for less than six months. His report, which was 
published in January 1839, attracted considerable attention, 
and stimulated discussion of colonial problems by reason of its 
vigour and extreme frankness. 

While analysing the causes of unrest and recommending 
particular remedies for particular evils, Durham insisted that 
the root Of all the discontent was the fact that the Canadians 
were not allowed to govern themselves. "It is not," he wrote, 
"by weakening, but strengthening the influence of the people 
on its Government ; by confining within much narrower bounds 
than those hitherto allotted to it, and not by extending the 
interference of the imperial authorities in the details of colonial 
affairs, that I believe that harmony is to be restored." He 
emphasised the differences between the constitution of the 
Canadas and that of Great Britain. In the former, the Governor's 
advisers held office as long as they retained his confidence. 
The Assembly might impeach them for grave offences, but could 
not procure their dismissal for mere incompetence, or even for 
carrying out a policy of which it disapproved. The British 
cabinet, on the other hand, was responsible to Parliament : 
once it lost the confidence of the House of Commons it 
resigned, and its opponents came into power. In this game of 
party politics the Colonial Secretary, to whom the Colonial 
Governor was responsible, was liable to be expelled from office 
with his colleagues, and the new Secretary might appoint a new 
Governor, who might choose different advisers. Thus the 
Executive of a colony, which remained unaffected by adverse 
votes of the Colonial Assembly, might be changed by a vote of 
the British House of Commons on a question of purely British 
interest. While, again, the, British Parliament had the right of 
supervising the whole field of administration as well as policy 
by questioning each minister about his department, the colonial 



i88 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

Executive Councils did not work departmentally. Further, the 
fact that the leaders of the Opposition in the British Parliament 
looked forward to having their turn of office restrained them 
from making intemperate and unjust attacks on the Government, 
and from giving rash pledges to the people which they might 
be called on to redeem. 

Therefore, said Durham, • the colonial Governors should 
choose their ministers from the party which had a majority in 
the Assembly. The colonists might be trusted to know their 
own interests best : if they placed incompetent or corrupt 
ministers in office, they would have no grievance against the 
mother country, but would have only themselves to blame. 

This proposal was far in advance of the age. The great 
majority of English statesmen argued that the colonial Governor, 
being already responsible to the British Government, could not 
act on the advice of ministers who were responsible only to the 
colonial Legislature. Durham met this objection by drawing a 
distinction between imperial affairs and matters of purely 
colonial interest. In the former the Governor would act on his 
own responsibility as a British ofificial bound by the instructions 
of the Colonial Secretary; in the latter he would act as the 
representative, not of the British cabinet, but of the King, 
and, like the King, he would take the advice of his 
ministers. 

While thus advocating responsible government for the 
Canadians, Durham was unwilling that the British residents in 
Lower Canada should be placed at the mercy of the French 
majority, and accordingly insisted that the two Canadas should 
be united. This w^as to be merely the prelude to a confederation 
of the whole of British North America. He had no sympathy 
with those statesmen who wished to keep the colonies small 
and divided, that they might realise their dependence upon 
Great Britain. His aim was rather to build them up into strong 
nations, to give them a proper pride, and to make them feel 
that the mother country also was proud of their growth. Such 



xi] CANADA 189 

a policy, he believed, so far from breaking up the Empire, 
would prove its surest bulwark. 

For Durham was a strong Imperiahst. In an age of little 
faith he was not ashamed of being thought a visionary. Nor 
did his Radicalism, in laying stress on the rights of the colonies, 
forget the debt they owed to Great Britain. "The country," 
he wrote at the beginning of his report, "which has founded 
and maintained these Colonies at a vast expense of blood 
and treasure, may justly expect its compensation in turning 
their unappropriated resources to the account of its own re- 
dundant population ; they are the rightful patrimony of the 
English people, the ample appanage which God and Nature 
have set aside in the New World for those whose lot has assigned 
them but insufficient portions in the Old." And at the end: 
"The experiment of keeping colonies and governing them well, 
ought at least to have a trial, ere we abandon for ever the vast 
dominion which might supply the wants of our surplus popula- 
tion, and raise up millions of fresh consumers of our manufactures, 
and producers of a supply for our wants." 

In 1840 the British Parliament passed an act for the union 
of the two Canadas with a single Legislature, consisting of the 
Governor, a nominated Legislative Council, and an elective 
Legislative Assembly. While giving the Assembly full control 
over finance, Parliament guarded against two dangers of the 
past. The establishment of a Civil List secured officials their 
salaries, and the provision that all money votes were to be 
initiated by the Governor prevented private members from 
introducing chaos into the finances. Lord John Russell, 
however, while warning the Governor that abuses of patronage 
must cease, and that he should appoint ministers in whom the 
Assembly had confidence, was far from accepting Durham's 
proposal of responsible Government. Canadian ministers were 
still in fact, as well as in theory, merely the advisers of the 
Governor, who had a poUcy of his own. But in 1846 Lord 
Elgin, Durham's son-in-law, was sent out as Governor by 



I90 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

Lord Grey, the new Colonial Secretary, who was himself 
Durham's brother-in-law. On his arrival in 1847 Elgin accepted 
the Conservative ministers whom he found in office. When, 
however, they were defeated at the next election, instead of 
retaining them, or himself choosing new advisers from the party 
in the majority, he sent for the Liberal leader and commissioned 
him to form a ministry. In his relations with his ministers, as 
well as in his appointment of them, Elgin acted the part of a 
constitutional king. A little later the Maritime Provinces also 
gained responsible government of the British type^ 

The early years of Lord Elgin's governorship were marked 
by grave economic distress. The repeal of the Corn Laws 
in 1846 deprived Canadian farmers and millers of the preference 
they had enjoyed in the British market. The fall in the value 
of all property reacted upon trade. When the country was thus 
impoverished it was called on to support the starving and fever- 
stricken Irish who began to arrive in large numbers in 1847. 
The distress, which was directly attributed to Great Britain, 
threw a severe strain on the loyalty of the Canadians, some of 
whom thought they would be better off as part of the U.S.A. 
In these circumstances Elgin was able to render great services 
to both the mother country and the colonies. He persuaded 
the Home Government to bear part of the expense of relieving 
the destitute immigrants and to repeal the Navigation Laws 
(1849), thus enabUng Canada to engage in direct trade with 
other countries. It was largely owing to his perseverance and 
tact that in 1854 the U.S.A. concluded a Reciprocity Treaty 
with British North America, which allowed free trade in certain 
food-stuffs and raw materials, and gave the subjects of both 
countries reciprocal rights of navigation and fishing. 

^ They also had suffered from the abuses of the old system. In a single 
day in 1767 the whole of Prince Edward Island was divided among a few 
dozen Englishmen, who made no attempt to develop the island. In 1827 
all the minerals of Cape Breton Island and New Brunswick were given to 
the Duke of York, who handed them over to his creditors to work. 



xi] CANADA 191 

Up to this time the relations of Canada, or rather of Great 
Britain, with the U.S.A. had been unsatisfactory. In addition 
to the two wars there had been two boundary disputes which 
might well have led to war. The clause of the Treaty of 
Versailles which defined the boundary between the U.S.A. and 
New Brunswick was so faulty in its geography that it could not 
be given a literal interpretation. When the territory in dispute 
began to attract settlers, the governments of Maine and New 
Brunswick both tried to exercise authority over it. After much 
bitterness had been aroused, Great Britain and the U.S.A. 
finally came to terms in the Ashburton Treaty (1842), by which 
the Americans gained more than they had any right to expect. 
The Canadians were naturally dissatisfied with the treaty, and 
accused Great Britain of lukewarmness where their interests 
were at stake. Soon the question of the Oregon boundary 
became acute. In 18 18 the 49th parallel had been made the 
boundary from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains, 
beyond which the "Oregon territory" was to be jointly occupied. 
In the early forties large numbers of Americans settled in this 
territory, and the Democratic party wished to claim the whole 
of it as far north as the Russian boundary. In 1846, however, 
it was agreed that the boundary along the 49th parallel should 
be prolonged to the coast, and that Vancouver Island should 
remain British. 

In spite of these disputes, Canada could not help being 
greatly affected by the U.S.A. : the law of political gravitation 
made her civilisation and economic life resemble that of her 
great neighbour more than that of Great Britain. There were 
times, indeed, both before and after the Reciprocity Treaty, 
when it seemed her destiny to lose her political individuality 
and to be merged in the U.S.A. No man did more to avert 
such a fate than John A. Macdonald. 

Macdonald (1815-1891) was Scotch by birth but Canadian 
by upbringing, for his parents emigrated to Upper Canada when 
he was five years of age. Entering the Canadian Assembly as 



192 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

a Conservative in 1844, he devoted himself seriously to politics. 
Not scorning at first to learn from men of inferior ability but 
greater experience, he soon completed his apprenticeship, and 
displayed a capacity for handling men and a readiness to adapt 
himself to the conditions of the time which made him the 
dominating force in Canadian politics for nearly half a century. 
There was some truth in the accusation of his opponents that 
he was an adroit party leader rather than a statesman : his 
readiness to change his weapons almost amounted to shiftiness. 
But from first to last he was guided by one great principle — 
belief in the Empire. This creed had a twofold aspect : in the 
darkest hour he would never listen to any talk of separation 
from Great Britain, and he never lost faith in Canada's future. 
He did much to translate Durham's ideals into reality. 

In 1854 Macdonald succeeded in forming a coalition of 
moderate Liberals and Conservatives which remained in power 
until 1 86 1. In the first year of its existence the Liberal- 
Conservative ministry concluded the Reciprocity Treaty with 
the U.S.A., abolished the seigniorial rights in Lower Canada 
(with compensation to the seigniors), and finally settled the 
difficulty of the Clergy Reserves by secularising them and 
devoting their revenues to municipal purposes. The Budget of 
1859 reduced the duties on raw materials, but retained at the 
existing rate those on luxuries and articles which might be 
manufactured in Canada. This provoked a remonstrance from 
the Home Government, which had expected the colonies to 
follow its lead in adopting Free Trade. The Canadian ministry, 
however, successfully asserted its right to decide its own 
fiscal policy, though Durham would have placed it under the 
control of Great Britain. 

The fall of Macdonald's government in t86i was followed 
by political chaos, in which parties were so confused that four 
ministries held office in three years. This deadlock was mainly 
due to the demand of Western Canada for representation in 
proportion to its population, since, though it contained 



xi] CANADA 193 

300,000 more inhabitants than Eastern Canada, it sent the 
same number of representatives to the Assembly. The French 
Canadians, however, pointed out that they had acquiesced in 
equal representation when the Union Act was passed, though 
their province was then by far the more populous. Still, the 
disproportion between the two provinces was becoming greater 
every year, and the Western Canadians urged their case with 
more and more emphasis. If, however, they were given an 
increased number of members, the French in Eastern Canada 
might once more feel that their nationality was threatened, and 
old sores might be re-opened. It seemed to the leading men 
of all parties that the only solution was to be found in federa 
tion. In 1864 George Brown, a noted Radical politician 
and editor, consented to join Macdonald (whom he personally 
detested) for the sole purpose of carrying federation into effect. 
Just at this time representatives of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick 
and Prince Edward Island were discussing a federal union of 
the Maritime Provinces. To them came delegates from Canada 
to propose a still wider scheme, which they willingly embraced. 
The difficulties which appeared when the details came to be 
settled were removed by the tact and patience of Macdonald 
and by the steady support he received from Brown. 

The more the idea was examined, the more arguments were 
found in its favour. The great need of British North America 
was easier communication. The wonderful system of rivers 
made it easy to get about the country in canoes, which rarely 
had to be carried more than a mile or two at the portages. But 
the transport of bulky goods was another matter. The system 
of canals which now avoids the rapids and falls from Lake 
Superior to Montreal was still incomplete. Land communica- 
tion between Canada and New Brunswick was so poor that, 
during the six months when the St Lawrence was frozen, Canada 
was dependent on American ports. In the whole of British 
North America there were only 2,000 miles of railway. The 
economic isolation of the colonies could be broken down only 
H. 13 



194 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

by common action, for which there was no political machinery : 
each colony communicated only with the Colonial Ofifice in 
London. 

The isolation of the colonies was not only inconvenient, but 
dangerous. During the American Civil War the Northern States 
resented the attitude of Great Britain and, with less excuse, 
that of the Canadians, whom they accused of not maintaining 
a strict neutrality. When the war ended in 1866, the American 
Government refused to renew the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854, 
and at first did nothing to prevent Fenian raids on Canada from 
being organised on American soil. The possibility of war 
between Great Britain and the U.S.A. made Canadians feel that 
closer union was necessary for their defence. Then, again, what 
was to be the future of the vast and thinly-populated territories 
to the west of Lake Winnipeg ? It was doubtful whether the 
Hudson Bay Company could prevent them from becoming 
part of the U.S.A., as Texas had done, and there was no 
Canadian authority strong enough to assume responsibility for 
them. In spite, then, of the natural reluctance of the existing 
Governments to surrender part of their powers, the arguments 
for a central authority were too weighty to be rejected, and on 
July ist, 1867 the Dominion of Canada came into being. 

The original members of the Dominion were Ontario 
(Western Canada), Quebec (Eastern Canada), Nova Scotia and 
New Brunswick. The Dominion Executive consisted of the 
Crown, represented by a Governor-General, and a Privy 
Council, corresponding to the British Cabinet. The Legislature 
consisted of the Crown, a Senate and a House of Commons. 
The members of the Senate were to be appointed by the 
Governor-General and Privy Council, each Province being 
entitled to 24 Senators, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick being 
regarded for this purpose as one Province. The House 
of Commons consisted of representatives from the different 
Provinces in proportion to their population, elected under the 
existing franchises. 



xi] CANADA 195 

The constitution of the Dominion is federal, i.e. the 
Provincial Parliaments do not derive their powers from a grant 
of the Dominion Parliament but from the written constitution 
(the British North America Act, 1867). In planning a federal 
system Canada could not look to Great Britain for precedents, 
but naturally turned to the U.S.A. In the distribution of 
powers between the central and local governments Canada 
gives more to the former than does the U.S.A. In the 
American constitution the legislative powers of Congress are 
enumerated, all others being left to the States. In the Dominion 
of Canada the Provincial powers are enumerated, and the 
Dominion Parliament, in addition to certain specified powers, 
possesses all the residuary powers. The Provincial Governors 
and the judges of the superior courts are appointed by the 
Dominion Government, which can disallow measures of the 
Provincial Parliaments. 

While the respective spheres of the central and local 
governments had to be defined by a written constitution, 
to prevent one from encroaching on the other, the working of 
the Parliamentary system was not stereotyped. It was assumed 
that the Cabinet system would continue, based on British 
precedents, but having freedom to adapt itself to different 
conditions. This idea of flexibility, of organic growth, contrasts 
with the rigidity of the American constitution. 

The first Prime Minister of the Dominion was Sir John 
A. Macdonald (created a K.C.B. as a reward for his part in 
bringing about confederation). His dream of a Canada which 
should extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific was incapable of 
realisation so long as the Hudson Bay Company retained its 
charter over the country between Ontario and the Rockies. In 
its anxiety to maintain its trade in furs, the company had 
steadily set its face against immigration : animals were of more 
account than men^ Canadian public opinion had for some 

^ The bison was all but extinct, but there were still vast numbers of black 
and grizzly bears, of deer, wolves, and foxes. 

13—2 



196 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

time regarded the Company as an anachronism, and in 1857 
the British House of Commons had appointed a committee to 
enquire into its affairs. The Company's officials had stoutly 
maintained that its territories were entirely unsuitable for 
agriculture, but this was questioned by Canadians. In any case, 
there was a strong political reason for putting an end to the 
Company's rule, as its lack of proper administrative machinery 
and of an armed force made it an insecure bulwark against 
American encroachment. Now that the British North American 
colonies could speak with one voice, they were able to bring 
far more pressure to bear on the Company and on Great 
Britain. In 1869 it surrendered its rights to the Dominion in 
return for ;^3oo,ooo and an extensive grant of land. A year 
later the Province of Manitoba was organised, its Lieutenant- 
Governor being given authority over the rest of the Company's 
former possessions, which were known as the North-West 
Territories \ 

It was not enough for the Dominion to acquire these new 
territories : they must be planted with men. Between them and 
the settled portions of Ontario lay a stretch of desert — the toe 
of the Archaean horse-shoe, which here extends across the 
whole width of Canada, from Lake Superior to Hudson Bay. 
Macdonald determined that a railway should be built to 
connect not only prairie-land, but British Columbia, with the 
valley of the St Lawrence. 

A land of giant trees and lofty mountains, British Columbia 
bears little resemblance to the rest of Canada. The first 
Europeans to visit it came by sea, and it was not until 1793 
that Alexander Mackenzie, an intrepid explorer in the service 
of the Hudson Bay Company, crossed the Peace River Pass 
and reached the Pacific coast. Other officials of the Company 
completed the exploration of New Caledonia, as it was then 
called, and established depots for the fur trade : in a single 

^ The Liberal Government of 1873 placed the North- West Territories 
under a separate Lieutenant-Governor and Council. 



xi] CANADA 197 

year 30,000 beaver skins were brought to Fort Vancouver. 
When in 1846 Vancouver Island was recognised by the U.S.A. 
as British, its administration was entrusted to the Company. 
In 1849 it was made a Crown Colony, and in 1856 it was given 
a representative Assembly. In the latter year gold was dis- 
covered on the Fraser River and subsequently in other places 
in New Caledonia. The roads which were made to the mining 
centres encouraged the immigration of farmers. The new-comers 
could not be expected to remain under the rule of the Company: 
in 1858 New Caledonia was made a Crown Colony, and 
in 1866 it was united with Vancouver Island as British 
Columbia. 

In those days British Columbia contained less than 20,000 
white residents, and its only communication with Canada was 
by way of the U.S.A. Thus Macdonald's offer to build a rail- 
way across the Continent within ten years, if British Columbia 
entered the Dominion forthwith, was a tempting bait, which was 
accepted in 187 1. When, in 1873, Prince Edward Island came 
in, the Dominion included the whole of British North America 
except Newfoundland, which remained outside in the hope 
of securing better financial terms than she was then offered. 
Macdonald had realised his dream of a Canada stretching from 
ocean to ocean; he had now to redeem his promise to British 
Columbia. It was decided that the Dominion should not itself 
construct the Canadian Pacific Railway, but should subsidise a 
company. The promoter of one of the two companies which 
were rivals for the contract made large contributions to 
the Conservative party chest, and the discovery of this fact 
produced a scandal which led to Macdonald's resignation 

(1873)- 

The Liberal Government of 1873-8 lacked Macdonald's faith. 
Regarding the Canadian Pacific Railway as an over-ambitious 
scheme which could only end in disaster, it determined to use 
water-transport as far as possible, and to construct the railway 
as a public enterprise. In spite of angry protests from British 



198 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

Columbia, the work proceeded so slowly that only a negligible 
portion was ready in 1878. The Liberals had some excuse for 
their caution in the economic depression of those years. Agri- 
culture suffered from a series of bad harvests, and industry from 
the ''dumping" of American manufactures. Seizing his oppor- 
tunity, Macdonald preached a " National Policy " of protective 
tariffs, which gave his party an overwhelming majority at the 
elections of 1878. The Budget of 1879 gave effect to his ideas 
by greatly increasing the duties on all goods which could be 
made in Canada, the existing duty of i7^per cent, being retained 
on the rest for the sake of revenue. 

It was known that on his return to power Macdonald would 
press forward the building of the railway. In 1881 it was 
announced that its construction would be undertaken by a new 
Company, which was to receive a subsidy of $25,000,000 and 
a grant of 25,000,000 acres of land, in addition to the portions 
of the railway already built by the state. Work was begun at 
once from both ends, and, in spite of great engineering and 
financial difficulties, the railway was completed in November 
1885. Macdonald died in 1891, before his boldness had been 
justified by time; but he had no misgivings. To him may well 
be applied Sir C. P. Lucas's appreciation of Lord Durham: 
" It is the common failing of political thinkers and writers to 
devote their whole attention to laws and constitutions, and what 
is called political science, and to overlook the tremendous effect 
which science in the stricter sense, invention, and engineering, 
has had and will have in an increasing degree upon politics and 
history. It was one of Lord Durham's supreme merits that, 
politician as he was, and devoted to constitutional reform, he 
appreciated public works present or future at their full value, 
and appreciated them not merely for their direct material results, 
but also, and in a greater degree, because of their bearing on 
politics. They appealed to his constructive mind as being com- 
munications, as making divided parts into one, as making small 
things into great, as linking one home to another, one little town 



xi] CANADA 199 

to another little town, one province to another, one united group 
of provinces to the mother country." 

Macdonald's death was a serious blow to his party, which 
was defeated at the elections of 1896. The Liberals, under Mr 
(later Sir) Wilfrid Laurier, were now converted to the National 
Policy, and could no longer be accused of lukewarmness to- 
wards the Empire. They showed their devotion to Great Britain 
by giving her manufactures a preference of 33jper cent, and 
it was largely due to them that the Imperial Penny Post was 
established. 

When the Liberals were in power, the last boundary dispute 
with the U.S.A. was settled. It will here be convenient to 
sketch the relations between the two countries since Federation. 
It has already been mentioned that after the Civil War the 
Americans entertained a feeling of bitterness towards Canada 
and Great Britain. Fortunately, the tangible causes of friction 
were removed by the Washington Treaty of 187 1. Of these, 
two were of special interest to Canada. The question of the 
ownership of San Juan Island, which was left uncertain in the 
Oregon Treaty of 1846, was referred to the arbitration of the 
German Emperor, who awarded the island to America. Secondly, 
a temporary agreement was reached on the subject of the rights 
of Americans to fish in Canadian waters, a question which had 
caused much dispute and ill-feeling since the expiry of the 
Reciprocity Treaty, and which was again to give trouble after 
1885, when the Americans refused to renew the Washington 
agreement. 

There was now only one boundary undefined, that between 
Canada and Alaska, which the U.S.A. had bought from Russia 
in 1867. The rough definition of this boundary in the Anglo- 
Russian treaty of 1825 was enough for all practical purposes 
until gold was discovered in the Klondyke region in 1896. This 
district was admittedly Canadian, but the easiest access to it 
was by way of the coast which was claimed by both countries. 
In 1903 the dispute was referred to a body of six lawyers (three 



266 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ctt. 

American, two Canadian, and one British), who decided in 
favour of America \ 

At the time of the Washington Treaty many American states- 
men suggested that Great Britain should surrender Canada as 
compensation for the damage done by the Alabama, a proposal 
which was discussed by the English press in the most matter- 
of-fact way. Macdonald, however, who was one of the three 
British commissioners at Washington, would have none of it. 
During the depression of the eighties, some Canadians were 
tempted to believe that Canada could never prosper unless she 
became part of the U.S.A. But towards the end of the century 
circumstances began to alter. As land became dearer and capital 
more essential in the Western States of America, the stream of 
emigration turned towards Canada. By the beginning of the 
present century this tendency was strongly marked : the popula- 
tion of the Dominion rose from 5,371,000 in 1901 to 7,206,000 
in 1911. 

The increase was most noticeable in the provinces of Mani- 
toba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta^. From Lake Winnipeg the 
country rises to the Rockies in three plateaux, the first of which 
is the bed of an ancient lake. With the exception of an arid 
district in the third, all three are remarkable for the richness of 
their soil, which seems to have been meant by Nature for corn- 
growing. The population, which was only about 50,000 in 
1 87 1, doubled every ten years until the end of the 19th century, 
and quadrupled in the first fifteen years of the present century. 
This remarkable development, to which we can as yet assign 
no limit, stimulated, and was stimulated by, railway construction. 
Since the beginning of this century two main lines, the Grand 
Trunk Pacific and the Canadian Northern, have been built, 

^ The American and Canadian arbitrators voted for their respective 
countries; but the British arbitrator agreed with the Americans. The 
award was very unpopular in Canada, which threatened to conduct its own 
diplomacy in fiiture. 

2 The last two provinces were created in 1905. 



xi] CANADA 201 

apart from branches. At present both these railways are worked 
at a considerable loss. Not only have they to contend with 
the competition of the canal system (which was perfected after 
Federation), but they are far too big for the present needs of 
the country: with a population of 7,500,000, Canada has some 
40,000 miles of railway — nearly as much as German)^ On the 
other hand, in this, as in many other respects, Canada looks 
to the future to justify her enterprise. The Canadian Pacific 
Railway has passed through the lean years and is now a financial 
success. Even if the other railways never pay their promoters, 
they will have done good service to the Dominion by opening 
up the country for settlement. 

The centre of gravity of Canada has been steadily moving 
west. The provinces of the Middle West stand in much the 
same relation to Ontario as did Upper to Lower Canada a cen- 
tury ago. Their growth has already had important consequences, 
economic, social, and political. Faced by their competition, the 
Eastern farmers have grown less cereals and have engaged in 
dairy farming. The manufacturers of Ontario have found more 
customers for their goods in the protected home market. On 
the other hand, there is a disposition on the part of the prairie 
farmers to criticise the protective system, which raises the cost 
of their agricultural machinery. Thus there are cross-currents 
in modern Canadian politics: the representatives of the Western 
states, who are willing to work with the Ontario representatives 
as a rule, differ from them on the fiscal question. Further, the 
recent immigrants into Canada have been drawn from every 
country of Northern Europe, from the U.S.A., and even from 
Iceland. By the end of the 19th century Canada had acquired 
distinctive national characteristics; she has now to assimilate 
a large number of foreigners, most of whom live in small com- 
munities together with those of their own race and language. 

In conclusion, a point may be made which has already been 
hinted at. Many of the Canadians who fought in the Great War 
left behind them farms which they had only just finished clear- 



202 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. xi 

ing, or on the improvement of which they had spent much time 
and money. In very few cases were they able to find anyone to 
look after their property, for their friends were also joining the 
army. What is true of Canadians as individuals is also true of 
their country. The history of Canada has been a struggle from 
the beginning, a struggle for individual existence and a liveli- 
hood against a rigorous climate, a struggle for national existence 
against the attraction of the U.S.A. Capital and labour have 
been freely spent in the endeavour to people vast solitudes. 
Just when the outlay was beginning to justify itself, Canada 
was called upon to postpone the internal development which 
had cost her much, in order to play her part in the war. 
Her need had long been men — real men, who could overcome 
obstacles ; but just when there was hope that her need would 
be satisfied, men were wanted even more urgently in Europe, 
and Canada gave of her best 



CHAPTER XII 

SOUTH AFRICA 

The main geographical features of Africa south of the Zambesi 
are easily sketched. The coast is almost straight, and has few- 
good harbours. Access to the interior is barred by mountains 
which rise in terraces from the coast or a little way inland. These 
mountains, which in places reach a height of more than 10,000 
feet, form the outer rim of the interior plateau, which rarely falls 
below 3,000 feet. The winds from the sea are robbed of most 
of their moisture by the mountain-ranges, and since the rain- 
bearing wind blows from the south-east, the plateau becomes 
more arid as one goes west, until it is known as the Kalahari 
Desert, The dryness of the central table-land has important 
consequences. It means that there are no great navigable rivers : 
during the greater part of the year the rivers of South Africa 
are simply series of pools. It means that vegetation is scanty, 
that the countryis green onlyin the rainy months, from December 
to January, and is scorched brown by the sun during the rest of 
the year. It means, also, that there is no malaria, except where 
the mountains recede from the coast. This dryness, together 
with the height above sea-level, makes South Africa " a white 
man's country", in spite of its latitude. The sun is strong, but 
sunstroke is almost unknown; the nights are cool; the air is 
invigorating. The history of South Africa is the story of the 
gradual exploration and settlement of this plateau and of the 
healthy coast-strip on the south and south-east, from the Cape 
as a starting-point. 

The Portuguese, who discovered the Cape of Good Hope 
in 1487, never planted a settlement there. Finding that it fur- 
nished no gold or ivory, they regarded it merely as a land-mark 



204 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

on the way to the East. They, and afterwards the Dutch and 
English, landed there only to take in fresh water. In 1652 the 
Dutch East India Company founded a station on the Cape 
peninsula, so that their ships might be provided with vegetables 
as a guard against the scurvy. The colony gradually expanded 
until, by the end of the i8th century, its boundaries were the 
Buffalo River on the north-west and the Great Fish on the east, 
while on the north there were farmers, or "Boers", on the 
Great Karroo. 

In 1795 ^ French army invaded Holland and established 
a republic, with the result that a British expedition seized Cape 
Colony in the name of the Stadholder. Restored at the Treaty 
of Amiens, the Cape was again taken in 1806, and remained 
British at the Congress of Vienna, compensation being paid to 
Holland. 

British immigrants did not arrive in any numbers until 
1820-1, when the Home Government sent out 5,000, of whom 
4,000 settled in the Albany district. It seemed at first that the 
two races would blend as they had done in New York, or that 
they would at least live in harmony. They came of the same 
stock, and the religion of both was of the Protestant type. The 
first Governor was given despotic powers; but the Dutch haa 
never made a fetish of Parliamentary government, and they were 
allowed to retain their Roman-Dutch law. Difficulties, however, 
soon began to appear. In 1827-8 English was made the only 
official language; the Dutch local courts were replaced by resi- 
dent magistrates; and free natives were given equal rights with 
white men. This last point was all-important. The native ques- 
tion was the root of most of the troubles which befell South 
Africa during the following century. 

When the Dutch first went to the Cape, they found two types 
of native, the Bushmen and the Hottentots. The Bushmen, 
wild little men who had no fixed homes but roamed about the 
country after game, did not affect the history of South Africa, and 
have now become extinct. The Hottentots were a little higher 



xii] SOUTH AFRICA 205 

in the scale of civilisation, having reached the pastoral stage. The 
Dutch reduced many of them to a state of semi-slavery ; but their 
incorrigible laziness and their pilfering habits made them of little 
use on large farms, and the Dutch took to importing slaves from 
West Africa and Malay. Towards the end of the i8th century 
the Dutch came into contact with another race, the Bantu or 
Kaffirs, who had for some time been moving down the coast, 
and who had reached the Great Fish River about the same time 
as the Dutch. The Kaffirs were more civilised than the Hotten- 
tots : they knew the use of metals, and their wives engaged in 
rude agriculture. Of medium height and sturdy physique, fond 
of war, though not of work, they did not become extinct with 
the advent of the white man, but continued to multiply. In 
1778 some of their chiefs made a treaty with the Dutch, estab- 
lishing the Great Fish River as the boundary; but the next year 
they made a cattle-lifting raid beyond the river. The Dutch 
immediately formed themselves into commandos^ repelled the 
raid, carried the war into the enemy's country, and taught the 
Kaffirs that the game was not worth the candle. These, then, 
were the elements of the problem : what policy was to be adopted 
towards the slaves and the tribal Hottentots in the colony, and 
towards the Kaffirs on its borders? Different answers were given 
by the Boers, with whom the Governor usually agreed, and by 
the Home Government, which was influenced by missionaries. 

Some missionaries had gone out even during the first British 
occupation of the Cape, and their numbers were increased after 
it definitely became a British colony. For the most part they 
worked quietly among the natives, not only preaching Christianity 
but teaching them crafts and trying to make them industrious. 
Some of the missionaries, however, wrote books and pamphlets 
in which they accused the Boers of habitual cruelty towards the 
natives. Though they may have laid the faults of individuals at 
the door of all, it is impossible not to believe that there was 
much truth in these accusations. The scarcity of pasture meant 
that the Boers lived on large cattle farms, isolated from each 



2o6 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

other and from the outer world. They were still in the 17th 
century, when white men had little consideration for the rights 
of natives. They knew nothing of the humanitarian movement 
in England, which was at the back of missionary enterprise. 
To them such accusations, even if true, were frivolous, and 
showed an ignorance of the proper way of dealing with natives. 
Their disgust was increased when slavery was abolished, and 
they received only ;^ 1,2 5 0,000 as compensation for slaves which 
special commissioners had valued at ;^3, 000,000 (1834). Thus 
the first question was settled in a manner which displeased the 
Boers; the second soon came up for consideration. 

Two Kaffir wars had already been fought by the British, after 
the second of which all the country between the Great Fish and 
the Keiskama was declared neutral. In December 1834 twelve 
thousand Kaffirs of the Kosa tribe burst into the colony with- 
out any warning, plundering, burning farms, and murdering the 
inhabitants. Hastily collecting a force. Sir Benjamin D'Urban, 
the Governor, expelled the invaders and conquered and annexed 
their country, thus extending the British frontier to the Kei. 
Under British rule the Kosas would act as a buffer, he thought, 
and would prevent the Kaffirs farther east from invading the 
colony. His action was applauded by all the colonists, and, had 
it been allowed to stand, the whole history of South Africa 
might have been different. Lord Glenelg, however, who was 
Colonial Secretary, refused to take the advice of the responsible 
official on the spot. Allowing himself to be persuaded that the 
Kaffirs were the victims of injustice, and that a binding treaty 
could be made with them, he disallowed the annexation, for- 
bade British subjects to enter the Kaffir country, and recalled 
D'Urban. 

The consequences of this reversal of policy were mischievous 
in the extreme. The Kaffirs had been beaten, and punished, 
and now found their punishment cancelled. Such action they 
interpreted, not as clemency, but as weakness. Glenelg had 
pjevented D'Urban from doing the work well, and it had to be 



xii] SOUTH AFRICA 207 

done over and over again, without the aid of men who, what- 
ever their faults, were experts in frontier wars. 

For the Great Trek now began (1836). The Boers of the 
out-lying districts would have become restive under any govern- 
ment which made its power felt. In the days of the Company 
they had been left largely to their own resources, and their natural 
love of freedom had developed into a distaste for all restraint, 
however necessary for the public good. Their patience was now 
exhausted with a government which deprived them of their 
property, refused them security against the attacks of savages, 
and forbade them to organise their own defence. In the 
first two years alone between six and ten thousand Boers sold 
their farms for what they would fetch, and left the colony. They 
took their wives and families in their big wagons, drawn by a 
dozen yoke of oxen, and they travelled in small parties, since 
grazing was thin. At first they went north (for the Kosas were to 
the east), to the country between the Orange and the Limpopo. 
Here they were attacked by the Matabele, whom they expelled. 
Then some three hundred of them went east and crossed the 
Drakenberg into Natal, where they were well received by the 
Zulu king, Dingaan. 

At the beginning of the 19th century the Zulus were a small 
and insignificant Kaffir tribe. Tchaka, who became their chief 
in 18 10, improved their discipline, tactics and weapons to such 
an extent as to give them the victory over all their neighbours, 
whom, in Kaffir fashion, they slew or drove out of their homes. 
In 1817 a Zulu tribe called the Matabele quarrelled with Tchaka, 
and occupied the country from which they were afterwards ex- 
pelled by the Boers. In 1828 Tchaka was murdered by his half- 
brother Dingaan, who succeeded him. In the first thirty years 
of the 19th century the Zulus and Matabele are estimated to 
have killed more than a million people. 

The first Boers who made their way into Natal must have 
thought that at last they had reached the Promised Land. After 
their wanderings over the parched and dusty veldt they found 



2o8 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

themselves in a country which was green and well-watered. 
More than that, it was empty of inhabitants, as no Kaffirs had 
dared to return since Tchaka had laid it waste in 1820. Dingaan, 
as has been said, received the Boers with fair words, and then 
murdered them, men, women, and children (1838). This was 
not only a crime but a serious error, for it brought down upon 
him more Boers from the interior. The Zulus trusted to the 
close formation which had proved so effective against their 
native enemies; but the Boers fired at long range, galloped off 
to reload, and then repeated the process. Dingaan was assas- 
sinated, and his brother Panda, who succeeded him, was 
confined to Zululand as a vassal of the Boers. Natal itself was 
organised as a Boer Republic. 

In i824some British traders had gone to Port Natal (Durban); 
but the Home Government had refused to accept any responsi- 
bility for the country. It was now roused to action by the 
Governor of the Cape, who pointed out that an independent 
Boer Republic on the coast would be able to communicate with 
other countries, and that international complications might fol- 
low. Accordingly in 1843 Natal was occupied by British troops, 
and was placed under the Governor of Cape Colony \ 

This step was bitterly resented by the Boers, who felt that, 
since they had done the work of breaking the Zulu power, they 
should have been allowed to keep the fruits of victory. Rather 
than submit once more to British rule, they abandoned their 
new farms and went to join their brethren on the veldt. In 1852 
Great Britain gave up the attempt to treat them as revolted sub- 
jects, and recognised the independence of the Transvaal and 
the Orange Free State. 

The economic life of South Africa was soon to be affected 
by two important events. 

The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 meant that the 
Cape was no longer the half-way house to India. But for a 
long time it had been considerably more than that, and it was 
^ In 1856 it was given a separate administration. 



xii] SOUTH AFRICA 209 

now a port of call for vessels on their way to Australia. In 1867 
diamonds were found near the Orange River, and in 1870 the 
Kimberley mines were opened. In the following year the 
district was annexed as Griqualand West by the British Govern- 
ment, The economic, social and political results of these dis- 
coveries are hard to exaggerate. " The digger, the capitalist, 
the company promoter, jostled the slow-moving Dutch farmer 
and quickened the pace of life." In order to understand the 
complicated period which followed we must examine the three 
main factors — Lord Carnarvon's scheme of confederation, the 
revival of the Zulu military power, and the anarchic condition 
of the Transvaal. 

In the late fifties a movement in favour of confederation 
which grew up in Cape Colony and the Orange Free State 
received no support from the Home Government. Lord 
Carnarvon, who returned to the Colonial Office in 1874, had 
been responsible for the passage through Parliament of the Act 
which established the Dominion of Canada, and was anxious 
that a similar confederation should be formed in South Africa. 
In 1877 he sent out Sir Bartle Frere as Governor of Cape 
Colony^ and High Commissioner, to promote this policy. 

On his arrival, Frere learnt that the people of Natal were 
alarmed at the warlike attitude of the Zulu king, Cetewayo, 
who had succeeded his father, Panda, in 1872. Cetewayo had 
revived Tchaka's regimental system, forbidding his young men 
to marry until they had " washed their spears " in the blood of 
an enemy. He had hitherto maintained friendly relations with 
the British, but he now talked openly of a great war between 
whites and blacks. The existence on its frontiers of a well- 
disciplined force commanded by a blood thirsty despot was a 
menace to the security of Natal, whose population at this time 
consisted of 25,000 white men and 300,000 natives. 

As we have seen, the Transvaal was inhabited by those 
Boers who were irreconcilable opponents of British rule. 
^ Cape Colony had been given responsible government in 1872. 

H. 14 



215 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

Their passion for freedom had reached such a pitch that they 
found it difficult to unite even for self-government: it was 
not until 1864, and then only after civil war, that a single 
President was recognised. Their rooted objection to the pay- 
ment of taxes left the Exchequer empty and reduced the paper 
money to one- quarter of its face value. In 1876 they were 
badly beaten by the Kaffirs to the north-east; so they left the 
war to be carried on by filibusters, broken men of all nations 
who had been attracted to the Transvaal by its absence of law 
and order. Cetewayo, who was anxious to fight them, had 
hitherto been restrained by the Governor of Natal, but it was 
doubtful how much longer he would consent to stay his hand. 
Altogether, the condition of the Transvaal was a source of 
anxiety to the whole white population of South Africa, and 
could not be ignored by Great Britain, who, as paramount 
power, was peculiarly interested in the relations between white 
and black. Carnarvon accordingly sent Sir Theophilus Shep- 
stone, who thoroughly understood the Boers, on a special 
mission to examine the condition of the Transvaal and, if he 
thought necessary, to annex it. After studying the situation for 
three months, Shepstone became convinced that annexation 
was the only possible remedy, and on April 12th, 1877, he de- 
clared the Transvaal to be British territory, promising it a 
separate administration, its own laws, and the "fullest legis- 
lative privileges compatible with the circumstances of the 
country and the intelligence of its people." Sir Bartle Frere 
had landed less than a fortnight before, and was in no way 
responsible for this step. 

The annexation of the Transvaal enraged Cetewayo, who 
considered himself deprived of his lawful prey. Frere became 
convinced that the present state of suspense was intolerable, 
and that it was necessary, by persuasion or force, to dissolve 
the Zulu military system. In December 1878 he sent Cetewayo 
an ultimatum, bidding him disband his regiments, allow his 
soldiers to marry, and accept a British resident. As these 



XII 1 SOUTH AFRICA 211 

demands were ignored, British and colonial troops invaded Zulu- 
land. The disaster of Isandhlwana (January 22nd, 1879) and the 
gallant defence of Rorke's Drift were followed by the decisive 
victory of Ulundi (July 4th). Zulu militarism was shattered, 
and, after various experiments, the country was annexed (1887). 
In the Transvaal, though a minority was strongly opposed 
to the annexation, most of the Boers were not unwilling to be 
defended from their native enemies by British arms. As time 
went on, however, discontent began to appear. No attempt 
was made to redeem the promise of free institutions. Shepstone 
was succeeded by officials who had no knowledge of the country 
and no sympathy with its inhabitants. The defeat of Cetewayo 
and of the Kaffirs to the north-east removed the only reason 
which had induced the Boers to acquiesce in the loss of their 
independence. Their petitions for the restoration of their 
freedom met with the answer, from officials in South Africa 
and ministers in England, that the annexation must be con- 
sidered irrevocable; but their past experience made them 
refuse to accept as final any decision of a British cabinet. 
The general election of April 1880 led to the return to 
office of Gladstone, who, in his Midlothian campaign, had 
strongly condemned the annexation of the Transvaal. On 
learning this news the Boers naturally ceased to agitate, 
confident that Gladstone would be as good as his word. 
Gladstone, however, was told by the officials on the spot 
that it would be unwise to give the Boers self-government 
before the confederation scheme had been carried, and that 
their more orderly conduct showed that they were becoming 
reconciled to the situation. The Boers, on the other hand, 
were determined that self-government should come first, and 
they persuaded the Dutch members of the Cape Parliament to 
shelve the confederation bill. Finally, after waiting for eight 
months for Gladstone to redeem his promise, they took the law 
into their own hands. In December 1880 the whole country 
blazed up in revolt, the small British garrisons were invested, 

14 — 2 



212 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

and in January 1881 the main Boer army under Joubert 
invaded the north-west corner of Natal to prevent their relief. 

Sir George Colley, the British general, could only collect 
1,200 men against Joubert, whom he found strongly posted at 
Laing's Nek, a narrow pass through which ran the road into 
the Transvaal. Here he was twice repulsed. Then, without 
waiting for the reinforcements which were coming up (for the 
Transvaal garrisons could not stand a long siege), on the night 
of Saturday, February 26th, he led some four hundred men up 
Majuba Hill, which dominated Joubert's position. His men 
did not reach the summit until 4 a.m., and they were exhausted 
by their long climb. Before dawn the Boers began the ascent, 
taking cover with such skill that they were within range some 
hours before Colley discovered their approach. After pouring a 
heavy fire on the British, who were exposed against the sky- 
line, they rushed the top shortly after mid-day, and soon drove 
the survivors in confusion down the other side. Colley and 90 
of his men were killed in this action, and before his successor 
could make another attempt to dislodge Joubert, Gladstone 
accepted Kruger's proposal that the whole dispute should be 
referred to a Commission appointed entirely by the Crown. In 
August a convention was concluded at Pretoria by which the 
Transvaal was given its independence under the Queen's 
suzerainty, subject to the condition that it was to have no 
dealings with any other foreign power except the Orange Free 
State. When the convention was revised in 1884 the reference 
to the Queen's suzerainty was omitted. 

Gladstone's action in making peace after Majuba has been 
much criticised. On the one hand, racial jealousy in South 
Africa had been embittered by the annexation of the Transvaal, 
and a prolongation of hostilities might easily have resulted in a 
general conflict between English and Dutch. On the other 
hand, it was ignominious for a British Government to concede 
to force what it had long refused to argument. The Boers were 
convinced that their independence was the direct result of 



xii] SOUTH AFRICA 213 

Majuba, and they were confirmed in their belief that no British 
government could maintain a consistent policy. Their elation 
was the measure of the gloom and despair of the British 
colonists throughout South Africa, who held that before the 
Boers were given their freedom a demonstration in force should 
have been made in their country, to show them that Great 
Britain had it in her power to withhold the boon she granted. 
The fact is, the failure of the Liberal cabinet to practise what 
they preached had placed them on the horns of a dilemma: the 
only possible alternatives were bad; their apologists could only 
plead that they did not choose the worst. 

On regaining their freedom the Boers resumed their roving 
habits, and began to trek into the country around the Trans- 
vaal, obtaining grants of land from chiefs as the price of their 
aid in battle. Hostile critics said that if they found the natives 
at peace, they did not scruple to foment discord among them, 
and that, under the pretence of adopting orphan children, 
they were reviving slavery. Great Britain could not allow them 
to stir up native unrest in this fashion, and determined to con- 
fine them within fixed boundaries. At this time their only 
frontier was the Vaal on the south. In 1885 Great Britain 
drove out the Boers and filibusters who were disturbing the 
peace of Bechuanaland, annexed the country south of the 
Molopo as British Bechuanaland (which was handed over to 
Cape Colony in 1895), and established a protectorate over the 
rest as far as the 22nd parallel. In 1887 the British annexation 
of Zululand barred the expansion of the Transvaal to the east. 
One of the motives for making Bechuanaland British was the 
desire to prevent the Boers from joining hands with the Germans, 
who had just proclaimed a protectorate over Damaraland and 
Namaqualand\ and had thus begun the "scramble for Africa". 
Up to the middle of the 19th century practically nothing was 
known about the interior of the " Dark Continent". Even as 

1 Except Walfish Bay, which the foresight of Sir Bartle Frere had 
secured for Great Britain in 1878. 



214 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

late as 1870 the dependencies of European powers, except in 
the extreme south, were narrow strips on the coast. In the 
interval Livingstone (d. 1873) had spent almost the whole of his 
time exploring the Zambesi valley and the central lakes. His 
work and that of his successors showed that Central Africa 
might become a valuable field of trading enterprise. Hitherto 
Germany had not been a colonial power because, until her 
unification was complete, her energies were divided. Entering 
the field late, she found all the best portions of the earth already 
in the possession of other powers; but she determined to get 
what she could in Africa. Her example was followed by other 
countries, among them Great Britain, and by 1891 virtually 
the whole of Africa was amicably partitioned. 

It is interesting to note that Great Britain reverted to the 
17th century practice of using chartered companies as the in- 
struments of government. When she annexed the country at 
the mouths of the Niger and Oil rivers (after the German 
annexation of Togoland and the Cameroons in 1884) she 
handed over its administration to the Royal Niger Company, 
which sold its rights to the Crown in 1900. The foundation of 
the German East Africa Company in 1885 was followed by 
that of the Imperial British East Africa Company. When the 
latter Company surrendered its charter in 1895, the territories 
it had administered were formed into the protectorates of 
British East Africa, Uganda, and Zanzibar. More important 
than either of these companies was Cecil Rhodes's creation, the 
British South Africa Company. 

Cecil Rhodes went out to South Africa in 187 1 for the sake 
of his health, joined in the rush to Kimberley, and in 1885 
formed the De Beers Consolidated Mining Company, a combine 
which included practically all the mines, and restricted the 
output in order to maintain the price. In 1884 he entered 
Cape poUtics. The Dutch of Cape Colony had just formed the 
Afrikander Bond, which aimed at the union of the two British 
colonies and the two Boer republics into a single state, under 



xii] SOUTH AFRICA 215 

British suzerainty, but with equal rights for both races. Rhodes 
sympathised with this scheme, which he regarded as part of a 
larger one — the construction of a Cape to Cairo railway which 
should run entirely through British territory. He was anxious 
lest Germany should gain access to the Transvaal and Portu- 
guese East Africa around the north of British Bechuanaland, 
and thus prevent British expansion. He therefore determined 
that Matabeleland and Mashonaland should become British, 
and in 1889 he secured a charter which gave his newly-formed 
British South Africa Company sovereign rights north of the Lim- 
popo. The northern limits of its powers were not specified, and 
he extended its sphere of operations as far as German East Africa. 

When Rhodesia was still in its infancy, its founder became 
Prime Minister of Cape Colony (1890). There he was sup- 
ported by English and Dutch alike in his plan of bringing 
about a voluntary confederation of South Africa. The Orange 
Free State, where the two races lived together in perfect 
harmony, was well-disposed towards the scheme, and concluded 
a customs union with Cape Colony. President Kruger, how- 
ever, annoyed with the policy which had hemmed in the 
Transvaal on all sides, was determined not to surrender a 
particle of his country's independence. 

Conditions in the Transvaal had altered greatly during the 
last few years. Gold-mining on a small scale had been carried 
on since 1867; but in 1885 the "banket" beds of the Wit- 
watersrand were discovered. Their characteristic feature is not 
so much their richness as their consistency : they contain much 
the same proportion of gold at a depth of 2,000 feet as on the 
surface ; gold-mining on the Rand is not more speculative than 
most other industries. Johannesburg was founded in 1886, and 
in ten years had a population of over 100,000. The Boers 
resented the intrusion of these Uitlanders — outsiders — upon 
their solitude. Deeply religious in their narrow way, and 
obscurantist in their hatred of change, they disliked both the 
good and the bad qualities of the new-comers — their modern 



2i6 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

standards of civilisation as well as their thirst for wealth. After 
the recent British annexations they could no longer trek into 
the interior, so they determined to remain masters in their own 
country. The franchise, which had previously been easy to 
acquire, was restricted in 1890 to men over forty who had spent 
twelve years in the Transvaal after taking the oath of allegiance. 
This, of course, excluded the typical Uitlander, who wished to 
make his fortune in as short a time as possible, and then return 
home to spend it. 

The mining industry was hampered by the Government in 
every direction. A monopoly of the dynamite used in blasting 
the quartz was given to a company which raised its price 40 
per cent. The crushing-machinery, which was all imported, 
had to pay heavy customs dues on entering the Transvaal. 
The price of the coal used to work the engines was doubled 
by the heavy freights charged by the Netherlands Railway 
Company. Heavy duties were imposed on the mealies on which 
the native workmen lived, and on all other foodstuffs. The 
money thus raised was not spent on public works; Johannes- 
burg was unprovided with a water supply or drainage system, 
with the result that its death-rate was very high. 

In 1892 the British residents of Johannesburg (who formed 
seven-tenths of its white population) founded the National Union 
in order to secure the franchise and to place English on an equal 
footing with Dutch, which was the official language and the 
only medium of instruction in schools. Finding that all their 
petitions remained unheeded, they at last determined to gain 
their ends by means of an armed rising. At this juncture Cecil 
Rhodes, who had organised a strong mining syndicate, and 
whose influence on the Rand was very great, offered the help 
of the British South Africa Company's mounted police. At the 
last moment he was forced to postpone the rising, as the 
non-British Uitlanders objected to the hoisting of the Union 
Jack, wishing to establish an international republic. Dr Jame- 
son, however, the administrator of Rhodesia, adhered to the 



xii] SOUTH AFRICA 217 

original plan, and invaded the Transvaal with 600 troopers on 
December 29th, 1895. He found his way to Johannesburg 
barred by a Boer commando, and on January 2nd, 1896, he 
was forced, after blood had been shed, to surrender. Jameson 
and the other ring-leaders were handed over to the British 
Government, by whom they were imprisoned. Rhodes resigned 
the premiership of Cape Colony and the directorate of the 
Company, and was severely censured by the Parliamentary 
committee of enquiry. 

The reckless action of Dr Jameson made a peaceful solution 
more difficult than ever. The Boers, knowing that the Premier 
of a British colony had been its prime mover, refused to believe 
that the Colonial Office was not at least cognisant of it, and 
were confirmed in their suspicion that Great Britain wished to 
round off her South African territories by annexing their 
country. They accordingly thought it useless to attempt to 
conciliate the Uitlanders, whom they treated worse than ever, 
and began to arm for a struggle which they considered inevitable. 
The raid also increased race feeling in South African politics, 
alienating the Orange Free State, which had previously been 
friendly to Great Britain, and reviving old jealousies between 
Enghsh and Dutch in Cape Colony. 

In March 1899 the British Uitlanders re-opened the question 
by sending the Queen a petition in which they enumerated 
their wrongs. Public opinion in Great Britain and the Colonies 
was deeply stirred by the spectacle of Englishmen being treated 
as a subject race. Great Britain undoubtedly had the right to 
ask the Transvaal Government to redress particular grievances 
of British subjects; but Chamberlain thought it simpler 
to attack the problem through the franchise, since, once 
the Uitlanders obtained the vote, they could find their 
own remedies. Accordingly Sir Alfred Milner met President 
Kruger in June at Bloemfontein, and demanded that the 
qualification for the franchise should be reduced to five years' 
residence. This opened a controversy which was only ended on 



2i8 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

October 9th, when President Kruger despatched an ultimatum 
warning Great Britain to stop sending reinforcements to South 
Africa if she wished to avoid war. 

There can be little doubt that neither side really wished 
for war, and that neither understood the magnitude of the task 
before it. In pressing for an easier franchise the British Govern- 
ment had taken up a false position. Its suzerainty, if it still 
existed, gave it the right to control the foreign relations, but 
not the internal affairs, of the Transvaal. On a purely domestic 
matter like the franchise it could only offer its advice, the 
rejection of which would not constitute a proper casus belli. 
Even advice should not have been offered until the suspicion 
aroused by the Jameson Raid had had time to die down. 
Further, though it was true that the Uitlanders had no political 
rights, their lives and property were safe, and they could look 
forward to the peaceful and constitutional removal of their 
grievances. For the system which Kruger represented was 
already doomed: he was an old man and must soon be replaced 
by younger men who were more in touch with the modern 
world. The state of public feeling, however, made it difficult 
for the Cabinet to trust to the slow handiwork of time. Nor 
did they seriously contemplate the possibility of armed resis- 
tance on the part of the Boers. The Intelligence Department 
estimated that the Transvaal could put 32,000 men in the 
field, and the Orange Free State 22,000, and took it for granted 
that these militiamen would not be able to stand against regular 
troops. The Boers could surely not challenge us to such a 
one-sided contest. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that 
Chamberlain used the threat of war as a diplomatic weapon, in 
much the same way as Napoleon had done towards England 
when she objected to his breach of the Treaty of Amiens. 
Like Napoleon, he thought he could frighten his opponents, 
and like Napoleon he was mistaken in his estimate of their 
character. 

The Boers were not the men to yield to threats. The 



xii] SOUTH AFRICA 219 

natural self-reliance of their race had been intensified by their 
history and their surroundings. They had faced diflSculties 
and dangers, and had surmounted thein. The austere scenery 
of their country — the lonely veldt, with its hard, clear outlines 
and its rugged granite kopjes — had become part of their being. 
They liked to live alone with their families, at a distance even 
from their friends. This isolation prevented the growth of the 
tolerance and mutual concession which are found in more 
compact communities. The Boers clung stubbornly to their 
own views and would admit of no compromise. Nor did they 
regard their chances as hopeless. On their hunting expeditions 
they had learnt how to take cover from the keen-eyed beasts 
of the veldt and how to shoot them at a distance, in spite of 
their protective colouring. Laing's Nek and Majuba had 
shown them that in their own country they were more than a 
match for British troops. Since then they had provided 
themselves with artillery, in which, since they had never 
before seen modern guns, they placed unbounded confidence. 
They reckoned on the help at which the Kaiser had hinted in 
his telegram to their President, and they remembered the 
vacillation which had always characterised the dealings of the 
British Government with them in the past. Living as they did 
in an inland country, they did not understand that British sea- 
power would prevent the intervention of Germany, and they 
had but a faint conception of the resources of the British 
Empire. More important still, they did not understand that 
for once Great Britain was in earnest. 

Since the Cabinet was slow to realise that the Boers were 
not afraid to fight, the outbreak of war found comparatively 
few British troops in South Africa. The Boers were thus enabled 
to take the offensive, sending one army to invade Natal and 
another to invade Cape Colony, while detachments from the 
latter laid siege to Kimberley and Mafeking. Sir George White, 
who commanded in Natal, was forced to retire on Ladysmith, 
where he was besieged by the Boers. 



220 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

At the beginning of November, 1899, Sir Redvers Buller 
arrived at Cape Town to assume the chief command. He divided 
his forces, sending Lord Methuen to relieve Kimberley, and 
Gatacre to repulse the invasion of Cape Colony in the centre, 
while he himself advanced to the relief of Ladysmith. In one 
"black week" in December all three forces were defeated, 
Methuen losing 700 men in a night attack at Magersfontein, 
Gatacre surrendering 600 prisoners at Stormberg, and Buller 
sacrificing ten guns and over a thousand men killed and wounded 
in a vain attempt to force the passage of the Tugela. 

The British Government, realising the gravity of the situation, 
sent out Lord Roberts as Commander-in-Chief, with Lord 
Kitchener as his Chief of Staff. These appointments would in 
themselves have revived pubhc confidence; but the reserves 
were called out, regular troops on garrison duty were relieved 
by Volunteers, young men accustomed to riding were enlisted 
as yeomanry, and troops from the Dominions came forward in 
great numbers. 

On January loth, igoo, Roberts and Kitchener landed at 
Cape Town, and the second stage of the war began. Leaving 
Buller to continue his efforts to relieve Ladysmith, Roberts 
concentrated his forces against the Boers in the west. French 
was despatched with 5,000 cavalry to relieve Kimberley, which 
he did on February 15th. With his main army Roberts drove 
Cronje from his position at Magersfontein by turning his flank — 
he knew better than to attempt to storm trenches by a frontal 
attack — and finally made him surrender at Paardeberg with 
over 4,000 men (Feb. 27th). These successes relieved the 
pressure on Ladysmith, where Sir George White was holding 
out gallantly in spite of famine and disease. Buller had made 
two more costly attacks which had ended in failure ; but at the 
end of February the Boers, finding their communications 
threatened by the advance of the main British army, broke up 
the siege. Crushing all opposition on his way, Roberts entered 
Bloemfontein in March, and Pretoria in June. The Orange 



xii] SOUTH AFRICA 221 

Free State and the Transvaal were annexed to Great Britain, 
and the war seemed over. In reaUty, it was only entering on 
its longest and most trying phase. 

Destroying their big guns, the Boers maintained a guerrilla 
warfare for nearly two years ^ Their knowledge of the country, 
which was too large to be kept down by force, their mobility, 
their lack of uniform, and the "slimness" of their leaders made 
them very difficult to cope with. If the British troops were 
dispersed, the Boers suddenly attacked a small detachment in 
overwhelming force ; if they were concentrated, the Boers split 
up into small bands which cut the railways. In December 1900 
Lord Roberts returned to England, leaving Lord Kitchener in 
command. Kitchener set about his task in his usual methodi- 
cal fashion. In one area after another he organised " drives " 
which brought in a steady flow of prisoners and war material. 
He deprived the Boers of the shelter of the farm-houses by 
collecting their women and children in concentration camps. 
He protected his lines of communication and narrowed the 
area in which the guerrillas could work by constructing a maze 
of loop-holed blockhouses, 600 yards apart, connected with 
each other by lanes of strong barbed wire. At last the Boers, 
realising that his spirit was as stubborn as their own, and dis- 
appointed in their hope of foreign intervention, bowed to the 
inevitable. In May 1902 delegates from the commandos met 
the Boer military and political leaders at Vereeniging to discuss 
the British terms, and on May 31st the treaty of peace was signed. 
The Boers became British subjects ; they were given ;^3, 000,000 
to rebuild their farms ; they were promised self-government as 
soon as possible ; and the Dutch and English languages were 
both to be used in the schools and law-courts. 

Self-government was granted to the Transvaal in 1906 and 
to the Orange Free State in 1907. At first it seemed that the 
forces of disruption had been increased, or at least set free ; 

^ General Botha had just been made Commander-in-Chief, on the death 
of Joubert. 



222 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

for the Transvaal announced her intention of withdrawing from 
the customs union to which she had been committed by Lord 
Milner. The fiscal interests of the different colonies seemed to 
clash with one another. The high import duties which Cape 
Colony and NataP desired for the sake of revenue increased 
the already high cost of living in the Transvaal and Orange 
River Colony. The state railways presented similar difficulties. 
Cape Colony, Natal, and the Orange Free State ^ wished for as 
large a share as possible of the trade of the Rand ; but the rail- 
way from Johannesburg to Delagoa Bay was far shorter than 
those to Durban, Port Elizabeth, and Cape Town, and more of 
it lay within, and was owned by, the Transvaal. 

A Conference which met at Pretoria in May 1908 to consider 
the customs problem found that the conflicting interests could 
not be harmonised under the existing political system, and 
passed a resolution in favour of a Convention to discuss the 
union of the four colonies. Since the war, the feeling had been 
gaining ground that South Africa should have a single govern- 
ment to deal with its problems. It was, after all, one country 
geographically, and its political divisions were the result of its 
unhappy history. 

The Convention which had been suggested by the Pretoria 
Conference met at Durban in October 1908, finished its draft 
constitution at Cape Town, and considered the amendments of 
the various Parliaments at Bloemfontein. The matters it had 
to discuss were of so delicate a nature that its meetings were 
held in secret. Such was the tact and forbearance of its members 
that full agreement was reached, and the constitution of the 
Union of South Africa became law in September 1909. 

The framers of the constitution were so impressed with the 
evils which had resulted from division in the past that they 
created a unitary, not a federal, state. The four existing colonies 
became provinces of the Union, exercising certain powers as 

1 Natal had received responsible government in 1895. 
^ Which was now allowed to resume its former name. 



xii] SOUTH AFRICA 223 

the agents or delegates of the Union Government. The Pro- 
vincial Councils of South Africa are more like the County 
Councils of Great Britain than the State Parliaments of Australia 
or the Provincial Parliaments of Canada. The reason for this 
difference, as has been said above, is historical : Australia might 
take precautions to prevent the central government from be- 
coming too strong ; but Australia had had no civil wars. South 
Africa wanted to make sure of having a strong central government 
for the first time in her history. 

To some people, especially in the German Empire, it must 
have seemed strange that, a dozen years after the Peace of 
Vereeniging, Boers were voluntarily fighting side l^y side with 
Britons against a common foe. The explanation is to be found 
in the constitutional history of the intervening years, which 
has just been sketched. There were those who thought that, 
in allowing the Boers to govern themselves four years after the 
conclusion of a long and desperate contest, Canipbell-Bannerman 
was allowing theories to count for more than hard facts. Events 
have proved his statesmanship to have been equal to his courage. 
The success of his policy is the best commentary on Gladstone's 
failure, for it was followed by a closer union than Carnarvon 
had hoped for, a union which could not have been accomplished 
if the colonists, British and Boer alike, had not been determined 
to bury the memories of old quarrels and to make a fresh start. 



CHAPTER XIII 

AUSTRALIA 

Australia became British by settlement, not conquest, so 
that its history has been free from the jealousy between two 
European races which has done much to hinder the progress 
of Canada and South Africa. Unlike Canada, it has had no 
great civilised state on its borders, but has been free to develop 
on its own lines. Unlike South Africa, it has never had a serious 
native problem, for its aboriginal inhabitants were too timid 
and uncivilised to be dangerous even to the first settlers. Its 
history, being one of economic development, of social and 
political experiments, is modern in spirit. 

It must not be thought that because Australian history has 
been remarkably free from troubles of human manufacture, it 
has therefore been a story of corrupting ease : Nature has 
supplied quite enough obstacles to prevent the national character 
from becoming enervated. The compact shape of the continent 
has all-important consequences. The winds from the sea are 
deprived of most of their rain by the mountains which rise 
from the coasts, particularly on the east. Nearly a third of 
the continent, in a latitude corresponding to that of Egypt, 
has an average annual rainfall of less than lo inches, while 
there are no snow-clad mountains in the interior to give rise to 
a Nile. 

Australia was first discovered by Europeans in 1606, when 
Torres, a Spaniard, sailed through the Strait which bears his 
name, and a Dutch ship coasted along the shores of the Gulf 
of Carpentaria. During the next generation Dutchmen sailed 
along the west coast, but no serious attempt at exploration 
was made until 1642, when van Diemen, the Governor of Java, 



xiii] AUSTRALIA 225 

sent Tasman to find out what he could about the new land. 
Tasman explored much of the coast of Australia (which he 
called New Holland), and discovered Van Diemen's Land and 
New Zealand. The early voyages, however, have little to do 
with the history of Australia. The Dutch had just established 
themselves in the Si)ice Islands, which were making them the 
richest nation in Europe, and they were content to leave to 
others the barren and inhospitable shores they had found. 
The first Englishman to visit New Holland was Dampier (r686 
and 1699), who also gave his countrymen an unfavourable 
report. 

Australian history really begins with the voyage of Captain 
Cook. In 1768 George III lent to the Royal Society the 
Endeavour (320 tons. Captain James Cook) to enable a party 
of its members to observe the transit of Venus at Tahiti. After 
the observations had been taken Captain Cook sailed, in accord- 
ance with his orders, to New Zealand and thence to New 
Holland. He landed at Botany Bay, explored the coast to the 
north, and took possession of the country in the name of his 
sovereign (1773). 

This claim would probably not have been made effective 
but for the outbreak of the War of American Independence. 
Great Britain had been accustomed to transport criminals to 
her American colonies, and after their loss the Home Secretary, 
who was responsible for our few remaining colonies, was per- 
suaded to use Botany Bay as a convict settlement. In taking 
this step he was acting in his capacity as Home Secretary, and 
was thinking simply of the interests of Great Britain, which he 
wished to rid of undesirable citizens. The real originators of 
the scheme were thinking of the development of Australia. 
Since, for the time, the American Revolt had damped colonial 
enthusiasm they saw in this the only method of providing 
Australia with settlers. It must be remembered that in those 
days men were convicted and transported for crimes which the 
law no longer regards as offences at all. In any case, a first 

H. 15 



2 26 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

offender would stand a better chance of reformation by doing 
useful work in a new country than by being confined in a 
pestilential hulk at home. 

The first batch of convicts was sent out in 1787 and reached 
Botany Bay on January i8th, 1788. Captain Phillip, the 
Governor, did not consider it a suitable spot, and went on to 
the splendid harbour of Port Jackson, where he chose Sydney 
Cove for the settlement. In spite of the high death-rate among 
the convicts, both on the voyage out and afterwards, the govern- 
ment considered the experiment a success. The composition 
of the settlement, its distance from Great Britain, and the 
economic conditions which prevail in all new colonies combined 
to make progress slow during the first quarter of a century. 
There was, however, the promise of a great future. It was 
found that cattle throve and that some of the land was suitable 
for wheat. More important still, Captain Macarthur, one of 
the garrison officers, insisted, in spite of opposition and ridicule, 
that sheep would do well. He imported Bengal and Irish sheep, 
and was even able to procure some pure Spanish merinos. 
Thanks to his confidence sheep-farming soon became the staple 
industry of the country. At this time the expansion of the 
English woollen industry, consequent on the new inventions, 
was hampered by the difficulty of finding new sources of raw 
material. Thus Macarthur found no difficulty in persuading 
capitalists that Australia could supply the demand for more 
wool. The need of fresh pastures acted as a stimulus to 
explorers. 

In 1 81 3 Wentworth and two companions made their way 
up the steep eastern face of the Blue Mountains, which had 
hitherto been considered impassable, and found themselves on 
a plateau which sloped gently westwards. On the upper 
Macquarie they discovered excellent pasture for sheep, a road 
was built, the town of Bathurst was founded, and free immigrants 
began to arrive in larger numbers. In the next quarter of a 
century the Murray River system was explored. It was found 



xiii] AUSTRALIA 227 

that when the rivers reached the central plain they became 
brackish and feeble, and even disappeared altogether. Much of the 
high ground, however, between the eastern range and the plain 
was well-watered and fertile. In 1828 Cunningham found a 
gap through the mountains west of Brisbane which led to the 
Darling Downs, and in 1836 Mitchell discovered the rich 
district of "Australia Felix" in what is now Victoria. 

While squatters were following these explorers by land from 
Sydney, fresh centres were being created on the coast. In 1804 
and 1825 additional convict settlements were established at 
Hobart and Brisbane respectively; in 1829 the Swan River 
settlement, in 1835 Melbourne, and in 1836 Adelaide were 
founded. Thus, within half a century of the original settlement 
at Sydney, the foundations of the six Australian States had 
been laid. Of these. Western and South Austraha ■ were in- 
dependent from the beginning ; Van Diemen's Land was made 
independent of New South Wales in 1825 ; and Melbourne and 
Brisbane were still part of the parent colony. 

Though Sydney had been chosen by a naval captain on 
account of its harbour, it had proved, as the key to the Darling, 
to possess equal advantages from the standpoint of the 
land. The future of the other colonies, however, seemed less 
promising. The explorers of the forties had evil tidings to 
report. In 1840 Eyre went north from Adelaide to the "dead 
heart of Australia", a barren district of mud lakes encrusted 
with salt. Turning aside in disgust, he made his way to Perth 
through the dreary desert which extends along the shores of 
the Great Australian Bight. In 1844 Sturt explored the parody 
of a river system which occasionally trickles into Lake Eyre. 
In 1844-5 Leichardt and in 1845 Mitchell and Kennedy 
brought back better news of North and West Queensland. 
But in 1848 Kennedy and nine of his twelve companions 
perished on their way to Cape York, and Leichardt's expe- 
dition to Western Australia was swallowed up in the interior. 
The disappointment caused by these failures was soon for- 

15—2 



228 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

gotten in the excitement which attended the first discoveries of 
gold. 

The discovery of gold in small quantities during the forties 
had induced the Home Government to send out a geologist. In 
185 1 an Australian who had returned from the Californian rush 
of 1848 visited a tributary of the Macquarie where the rocks 
resembled those he had seen in the Californian gold-fields, and 
there discovered alluvial gold. He at once informed the New 
South Wales government, which rewarded him and issued 
licences to diggers at a fee of ;^os. a month. Shortly afterwards 
a doctor found a single nugget which weighed more than a 
hundred pounds. The news spread like wild-fire, and many 
inhabitants of the other colonies rushed to the Bathurst diggings, 
while others looked for gold at home. It was found to a greater 
or less extent in most of the colonies, but by far the richest 
discoveries were made in Victoria. Men flocked to the diggings, 
not only from the pastoral districts of Australia and Tasmania, 
but from almost every country of the worlds The ships which 
brought the immigrants were deserted by their crews ; the police 
who were sent to keep order in the gold-fields turned diggers 
themselves. For no previous experience was necessary : one 
had simply to dig a hole, wash the sand and gold, and pass it 
through a sieve — everything depended on one's luck. Mining- 
towns sprang up as if by magic, their streets composed of huts 
and booths. Fortunes were made not only by diggers but by 
keepers of stores, drinking-saloons, and gambling-dens. 

The position of the Governor of Victoria was difficult in 
the extreme. Deserted by almost all his police and subordinate 
officials, he was expected to keep in order a motley population 
rendered half mad by the lust for gold. Even when he received 
a regiment and a man-of-war from England and convict guards 
from Tasmania, his difficulties were not at an end. The Ballarat 
miners demanded the franchise and the abolition of the fee 
charged for the licence, and some of the extremists among them 

1 The population of Victoria rose from 76,000 in 1850 to 397,000 in 1856. 



xiii] AUSTRALIA 229 

proceeded to entrench themselves behind the Eureka Stockade. 
Their defences were stormed in a night attack by troops, marines, 
and police (Dec. 3rd, 1854), and martial law was proclaimed, 
though only for a week. Then the government removed the 
grievances of the diggers by giving them the vote and allowing 
them to take out a Miner's Right for jQx a year (March 1855). 

By this time the nugget beds were exhausted, and recourse 
was had to expensive machinery to crush gold-bearing rocks. 
Capitalists took the place of the diggers, most of whom became 
small farmers, stockmen, or artisans in the towns. Besides 
providing Australia with voluntary immigrants, the gold rush 
hastened the advent of responsible government. 

The first settlement at Sydney had consisted of just over a 
thousand persons, of whom more than 800 were convicts, while 
the remainder were troops and officials who were under the 
absolute control of the Governor. The first three Governors 
were naval captains, who insisted on man-of-war discipline. In 
the twenties the authority of the Governor was limited by the 
establishment of a Council which contained non-official members. 
As free settlers became a more important element of the popula- 
tion, they began to protest against the system of transportation, 
which had now outlived its purpose. Their complaints were 
supported by a strong body of feeling at home, and in 1840 
the mainland of Australia ceased to be used as a settlement 
for convicts, who were thenceforward to be sent only to Van 
Diemen's Land and Norfolk Island. 

It was now possible to give New South Wales representative 
government (1842). In response to the repeated petitions of 
the inhabitants of Melbourne, Parliament passed an act in 1850 
which made Victoria a separate colony with a constitution of the 
type which New South Wales had received in 1842. The act 
gave similar constitutions to South Australia and Van Diemen's 
Land, and gave powers to the Legislative Council of each of 
the four colonies to alter its constitution as it thought necessary. 
The way was thus made easy for the establishment of responsible 



230 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

government when circumstances should demand it. Western 
Australia had experienced such difficulty in attracting free 
immigrants that it had recently applied to the Home Govern- 
ment for convicts, who were readily supplied. This meant that 
representative government could not yet be bestowed. On the 
other hand, the request of Van Diemen's Land that it should 
no longer be used as a penal settlement was now granted, and 
to celebrate its start in life as a free colony it changed its name 
to Tasmania. 

The influx of gold-seekers, most of whom came from Great 
Britain or other colonies where they had enjoyed full political 
rights, made self-government inevitable. In 1854 the four 
colonies which enjoyed representative government used their 
powers of amending their constitutions so as to make the 
executive responsible to the legislature, and in 1855 the British 
Parliament passed bills confirming their action. In each colony 
a Parliament was established consisting of two Chambers. In 
New South Wales the members of the Legislative Council were 
appointed for Hfe by the Governor (i.e. by the ministry) ; in 
South xVustralia, Tasmania and Victoria they were elected for 
a term of years, a property qualification being fixed for candi- 
dates and electors alike. The Assembly in each colony was 
popularly elected on a wide franchise, and had the sole right 
of initiating money bills. South Australia gave all adult males 
the vote from the first, and introduced the ballot in 1856, 
features which were soon adopted by the other colonies. 

In 1858 gold was discovered in the Brisbane district in 
considerable quantities, though not on the scale of 1851. The 
consequent growth of its population led to its separation from 
New South Wales as the colony of Queensland (1859). From 
the first it enjoyed responsible government. In 1867 Western 
Australia ceased to receive convicts, mainly on account of the 
strong protests of the other colonies. In the following year it 
received representative institutions, but it was not considered 
fit for responsible government until 1890. 



xiii] AUSTRALIA 231 

Since the grant of self-government the AustraUan colonies 
have steadily moved in the direction of advanced democracy. 
Such features as the payment of members, a reduction of the 
period for which the Assembly is elected, women's suffrage, 
the referendum, and the aboHtion of plural voting have made 
the Australian constitutions the most democratic in the world. 
Not only the machinery but the spirit is democratic : as far as 
state action can ensure it, all Australian citizens are given equal 
opportunities. The Commonwealth Government, for example, 
provides its Naval Cadets with uniform (including football 
boots) ; pays for their messing ; gives them a first-class railway 
ticket and 6^. a day for their travelling expenses when they go 
home on leave ; and supplies them with a full kit when they go 
to sea as midshipmen. 

In the second half of the 19th century the economic develop- 
ment of Australia proceeded rapidly. The gloomy picture of 
the interior painted by its first explorers was modified by later 
experience and a better understanding of the country. The salt- 
bush which covered such large areas, unattractive though it 
appeared, was highly appreciated by sheep, while in other districts 
subterranean rivers could be tapped by deep bores; so that 
a much smaller proportion of the country had to be written 
off as "desert" than was originally supposed. Refrigerating 
machinery provided a fresh stimulus to sheep- and cattle-farming. 
Mining continued to be an important feature. In 1892 and 1893 
rich gold-reefs were discovered in the desert ranges of Western 
Australia. Coal, silver, copper, tin and lead are worked. In- 
dustry is still mainly confined to preparing raw materials for 
export, and Australia cannot hope to become a great manufactur- 
ing country until her population is much bigger^. 

Australia, however, is not prepared to sacrifice her people 
in the pursuit of riches, and is determined to avoid the evils 

^ The white population increased from 437,000 in 1851 to 4,445,000 in 
191 1. In the latter year Australia produced 768,000,000 lbs. of wool, 
211,000,000 lbs. of butter, and ;^i3, 300,000 worth of wheat. 



232 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

produced in other countries by the Industrial Revolution. The 
8 hours' working day has been established in all the big in- 
dustries. Some States have created Wages Boards, on which 
employers and workmen are represented. Others have set up 
Arbitration Courts. The principle has been laid down that if a 
mining company cannot earn sufficient profits to pay its 
employees a "living wage", it must suspend operations until it 
is enabled to do so by a rise in the price of metals or the 
introduction of cheaper methods of production. The state is 
concerned to give every citizen a good education, healthy 
conditions of labour, pure food, and opportunities for recreation. 
Australian statesmen are willing to admit that this policy may 
delay the establishment of certain industries which cannot at 
present flourish under such restrictions; but they are quite pre- 
pared to wait. Australia is a democracy which has organised itself 
for economic freedom : it wants neither millionaires nor paupers. 
Much of the legislation just mentioned has been the work 
of the Labour party, but all Australian parties are willing to 
entrust the state with wide powers not only of supervision but 
of direct action in economic life. This readiness to confer on 
the government functions which in most countries are left to 
private enterprise is partly the result of history and partly due to 
the simple structure of society. The first colonists were provided 
by the state with rations, tools, and seed, and sold their produce 
to the state at a fixed price. When, later, gold-fields and 
pasture lands were found in the interior, no private capitalists 
would have risked building railways to connect them with the 
coast. The first important railway, from Melbourne to Bendigo, 
was I CO miles in length and cost the Government of Victoria 
^4,800,000. In order to provide the Kalgoorlie gold-field with 
water, the Westralian Government constructed a reservoir near 
the coast and pumped the water over a distance of more than 
350 miles. Between 1870 and 1872 South Australia constructed 
the trans-Continental telegraph from Adelaide to Palmerston, 
where it joined the English cable. If the state had not under- 



xiii] AUSTRALIA 253 

taken such enterprises, the development of the country would 
have been hampered. "Some Australian railways have no 
immediate chance of paying interest on their cost, unless the 
kangaroos take season tickets." But on the whole, the policy 
has been justified. In 191 2 there were over 18,000 miles of 
state-owned railways, on the working of which, after paying 
running expenses and the interest on loans, there was a profit 
of o'6 per cent. In a similar spirit the state has not hesitated tc 
encourage industry by building roads, harbours, refrigerating 
factories, and sugar mills. 

The above facts help to explain the comparative lateness of 
Australian federation. It seems strange that neighbouring com- 
munities with a common origin and common ideals should not 
have combined earlier. The fact is that for a long time there 
was no great incentive to union, and there was a strong argument 
against it. The Australian colonists were all traders, and they 
traded in the same goods. Each was afraid that federation would 
mean that its assets would go to pay its neighbours' debts. This 
competitive spirit was all very well as long as they felt safe in 
their isolation : federation was seen to be necessary when they 
began to feel the need of a common foreign policy and common 
measures of defence. 

In the second half of the century the islands of the Pacific 
attracted increasing numbers of European and American traders, 
and in the last quarter they were partitioned among Great Britain, 
France, the United States of America, and Germany. The 
Australians were irritated in 1864 by the establishment of a 
French convict settlement in New Caledonia. It was largely 
owing to their representations that Great Britain annexed the 
Fiji islands in 1874. Later, they were afraid of French designs 
on the New Hebrides, and of German designs on the eastern 
half of New Guinea (of which the western half was Dutch). 
The pressure they brought to bear on the Home Government 
led to the neutralisation of the New Hebrides under Anglo- 
French administration (1887), but Germany was able to establish 



234 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

herself in North-East New Guinea (1884) and Samoa (1886- 
1899). Though the German annexation of North-East New 
Guinea led to the British occupation of the South-East quarter 
of the island, the Australians felt that it was a menace to their 
safety. There was no adequate machinery, however, for protect- 
ing the interests of Australia as a whole. Their common views 
could be expressed only by an inter-colonial conference, to which 
individual colonies often refused to send representatives. Such 
conferences, moreover, were like meetings between the ambassa- 
dors of sovereign states : the majority had no power to bind 
the minority, and even unanimity at the conference did not 
necessarily lead to action on the part of the collective govern- 
ments. In 1885 a step forward was taken by the creation of 
a Federal Council of Australia. Even this body had no effective 
powers: its functions were purely advisory, and membership 
was voluntary. 

By this time, however, the movement in favour of closer 
union was becoming too strong to be ignored. The occupation 
by European powers of islands which might be made into naval 
bases induced the Australian representatives at the Colonial 
Conference held in London in 1887 to pay the expenses of 
maintaining a cruiser squadron and torpedo boats in their waters. 
Such a matter, however, concerned all the Australian colonies. 
Under the existing system any colony might cease to contribute 
towards a squadron which protected all alike. 

Another subject in which all were interested was the policy of 
"a White Australia". In the early days, when labour was scarce, 
Chinese had been brought in to act as shepherds, and Kanakas 
from the South Sea islands to work on the Queensland sugar 
plantations. After the middle of the century most of the colonies 
had placed obstacles in the way of Asiatic immigration, and in the 
eighties it was made almost impossible for Chinese to enter the 
country. Though Queensland planters insisted that they could 
not do without Kanaka labour, the other colonies were strongly 
opposed to its continuance. A definite policy was being de- 



xiii] AUSTRALIA 235 

veloped of excluding Asiatics on political, social, and economic 
grounds, because they would lower the rate of wages and the 
standard of living, and endanger democracy. But Japan was 
adopting Western methods and China was stirring in her sleep. 
Would they acquiesce in the exclusion of their people from a 
country whose population averaged less than 1-5 per square 
mile? It was impossible to overlook the fact that the "White 
Australia" policy might have to be defended. 

It was in such an atmosphere that a National .Convention 
met in 1891 and drew up a draft constitution. Then came 
a period of drought, strikes and bank failures, and it had to 
be postponed. But the arguments in favour of federation were 
becoming stronger with time, and the economic troubles of the 
early nineties helped to convince the colonies that they could 
not stand alone. Another convention met in 1897, and in 1898 
submitted a bill to the Colonial Parliaments. After various 
amendments had been carried, it passed the Colonial and 
Imperial Parliaments, and received the Queen's assent on 
July 9th, 1900. 

The framers of the Commonwealth of Australia examined 
the constitutions of other federal states and adopted the features 
which seemed to suit their requirements. The existing Colonial 
Governments would have to surrender some of their functions to 
the Commonwealth Government, but they would not disappear. 
It was not desirable to establish a highly centralised government 
for a whole continent which contained communities in different 
stages of development, and the external pressure which made 
for federation was a potential not an actual danger. Thus the 
powers made over to the Commonwealth Government were less 
than those retained. The Australian Colonies became States of 
the Commonwealth of Australia; their Parliaments remained 
under the control of the Imperial, not the Commonwealth 
Parliament; their Governors were appointed by the Crown, not 
by the Governor-General. In the distribution of powers between 
the Federal and State governments, the Commonwealth constitu- 



236 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. xiii 

tion follows that of the U.S.A. in enumerating and limiting the 
powers of the Federal Parliament, and leaving to the State 
Parliaments all powers not so specified. 

The principal legislative powers entrusted to the Common- 
wealth Parliament are concerned with defence, posts, telegraphs 
and telephones, aids to navigation, quarantine, customs, family 
and mercantile law, and extradition treaties. The State Parlia- 
ments retain their powers over such important matters as 
education, police, agriculture, land and industrial legislation 
and fisheries. So far, the States have kept their railways, which 
they were free by the Act of 1900 to transfer to the Common- 
wealth. The comparative importance of Commonwealth and 
State functions may be gathered from the fact that in the 
financial year 1911— 1912 Commonwealth expenditure averaged 
;£2f 4-^- 6^. per head (of which ^i. y. 7^. was devoted to naval 
and military services), while State expenditure amounted to 
;^8. 185-. lod. per head. In 1909 the Commonwealth government 
created a navy, to which the British Admiralty lent officers 
until Australia had trained her own. In the same year a system 
of universal military training was begun which would in time 
make all men between 18 and 36 members of a citizen army. 
When the Great War came, Australia was not unprepared. 



CHAPTER XIV 

NEW ZEALAND 

TASMAN,the first European to reach New Zealand, was prevented 
from forming a just estimate of the islands through the hostility 
of the natives, who murdered some of his crew when they landed. 
On his first voyage Captain Cook spent some months exploring 
the coast of South Island, and on his second and third voyages 
he again visited the country. After his time its shores were 
frequented by European sealers, whalers and traders, and at the 
beginning of the 19th century a few white men settled in North 
Island. In 1814 an Anglican Mission was founded in the Bay 
of Islands; other denominations followed; and, as the country 
became better known. Englishmen at home and in Australia 
began to consider the possibility of its colonisation. 

Goldsmith's description of Italy may well be applied to New 
Zealand. Its inhabitants declare its climate to be the best in 
the world. It enjoys the sunshine of Southern Europe without 
its extremes of temperature: white men can work in the open 
all the year round, and cattle need not be housed in the winter. 
The land is green and fertile, drought is almost unknown, cereals 
and fruits of almost every kind flourish. Altogether it seemed 
an admirable place for English emigrants except for two 
drawbacks : it was on the other side of the globe, and it was 
already occupied. 

Thanks to steam navigation the factor of distance was 
becoming less important, but the Maoris were a serious obstacle 
to the settlement of New Zealand by white men. 

With the possible exception of the American Indians, the 
Maoris were the most highly developed native race with whom 
British colonists had come into contact. Their ideal of life in 



238 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

many ways resembled that of the Athenians — symmetrical 
development of mind and body. Labour they despised as base, 
mechanical and insipid: their lively and imaginative temper 
demanded constant excitement in rhetoric, music, dancing, and 
above all in fighting. In their constant inter-tribal warfare they 
showed great cruelty and rarely gave quarter, but it was not the 
warfare of savages : in everything they did they gave evidence 
of their intelligence. Their pahs or fortifications may be com- 
pared with the earliest castles of medieval Europe. Built in, 
positions which could not be overlooked, they were surrounded 
by a double line of palisades and were provided with ovens, 
magazines and barracks. The gateways of the palisaded roads 
were fortified with towers, while the approach of an enemy could 
be discovered from look-out platforms on the trees outside. 
Politically the Maoris were still in the clan stage, being governed 
by numerous chiefs. As is the case in all such communities, 
the land was the property of the tribe and could be alienated 
only by the tribe as a whole. Each member of the tribe had 
the right to the use of a certain amount without having any 
individual property in it (cf. p. 99). 

It is clear that a country peopled by such a race could not 
have become British in haphazard fashion. Organization and 
method would be necessary — qualities which have usually been 
lacking in the foundation of our colonies. In 1837, however, 
Gibbon Wakefield, the advocate of systematic colonisation, 
formed the New Zealand Association. Owing to the hostility 
of the Cabinet, the Association failed to secure from Parliament 
the powers it needed. There had been a British Resident 
Magistrate in the Bay of Islands since 1833, but the Government 
had repeatedly declared that New Zealand could not be con- 
sidered a British possession. The promoters of the scheme 
refused to abandon their intention and in 1839 founded the New 
Zealand Company, with Lord Durham as chairman, intending to 
carry out their plan on their own responsibility. In 1839 they 
sent out a party of emigrants, preceded by Colonel Wakefield 



xiv] NEW ZEALAND 239 

(Gibbon Wakefield's brother), who was to buy lands for them 
from the Maoris. This step roused the Cabinet to action. 
Captain Hobson was sent out to be Lieutenant-Governor, under 
the Governor of New South Wales, of such territory as might be 
ceded to Great Britain. On his arrival in January 1840, Hobson 
announced that only such titles to land would be recognised as 
were derived from or confirmed by Her Majesty. In February 
he succeeded in concluding the important Treaty of Waitangi 
with over 500 chiefs, who surrendered their sovereign rights to 
the Queen, being confirmed by her in the possession of their 
property. If at any time they wished to sell their land, the 
Queen was to have the right of pre-emption. 

In October 1840 Hobson chose the site of Auckland for the 
capital. In 1841 New Zealand was made independent of New 
South Wales and was given a nominated Legislative Council. 
In the same year the New Zealand Company, which had already 
planted several settlements, including Wellington and Nelson, 
was incorporated as a chartered Company with a capital of 
;;^3oo,ooo. To it was due the success of the Colony at the start, 
for it provided most of the early immigrants. To it, also, was 
due much of the trouble with the Maoris. 

Even before 1839 disputes had arisen from the action of 
Europeans in "buying" land from individual Maoris in return 
for a few trinkets or manufactured goods. Such transactions 
were condemned as illegal by the tribe concerned, which would 
forcibly prevent the purchaser from taking possession of the land. 
It must be remembered that the Maoris were not ignorant 
savages, and that they were quite capable of giving a clear 
explanation of their system of land tenure. In such circum- 
stances it was obviously desirable that the Crown alone should 
buy land in large lots, which could afterwards be sold to 
immigrants. The New Zealand Company, however, was such 
a powerful body that even Hobson was unable to prevent it from 
breaking the Treaty of Waitangi by dealing with the Maoris 
direct; though, in justice to the Company, it must be admitted 



240 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

that it was willing to pay a fair price for the land it bought. 
In 1843 a disputed purchase nearly provoked a serious Maori 
war. Captain Fitzroy, who came out as Governor in that year, 
definitely broke the Treaty of Waitangi by permitting direct 
purchase on payment of a fee to the Government. This ill- 
advised step led to his recall in 1845. His successor, Captain 
(in 1848 Sir) George Grey, was one of the ablest colonial 
officials of the century. On his arrival he found that the Maoris 
were convinced that the Company meant to dispossess them of 
their lands, a view which was confirmed by the speeches made 
on the subject in the British House of Commons, the reports 
of which they read with great interest. Grey stated emphatically 
that the Government would maintain the Treaty, strictly forbade 
private sales, and completely won the confidence of the chiefs. 
During his rule (i 845-1 853) the relations between the two races 
were excellent. 

In 1847 the Whig Government, which was very well-disposed 
towards the New Zealand Company, lent it ;^25o,ooo and made 
over to it the Crown lands in South Island until 1850. The 
Company was able to bring pressure upon Grey to buy the 
island from the Maoris in 1848, and through its instrumentality 
the provinces of Otago (1848) and Canterbury (1850) were 
founded, the first by a Scottish Presbyterian, the second by 
a Church of England Society. 

In 1850 the dissolution of the Company put an end to the 
dual system, whose disadvantages had become clear now that 
the colony was capable of standing alone. In the following year 
the British Parliament passed an act establishing a federal 
constitution on lines suggested by Grey. The colony was divided 
into six provinces, each of which had an elective Provincial 
Council and a "superintendent", or head of the provincial 
executive. The Parliament consisted of a Legislative Council, 
whose members were appointed for life by the Governor, and 
a popularly elected House of Representatives. The first Parlia- 
ment did not meet until 1854, when the Australian Colonies 



xiv] NEW ZEALAND 241 

were discussing the bills which gave them responsible govern- 
ment. Infected with the same spirit, the New Zealand House 
of Representatives wished to make the Governor's Executive 
Council ministerial instead of official. When this change was 
made in 1856, New Zealand enjoyed full responsible government, 
which was marked by the transfer to the Provincial Councils of 
the administration of Crown lands. 

This last action was viewed with alarm by the great majority 
of the Maoris, who clung to their own civilisation and despised 
those members of their race who adopted European customs. 
Their own numbers were diminishing, while fresh British 
immigrants were arriving every year. Though they owned by 
far the greater part of North Island, they not unreasonably felt 
insecure. If they were to resist the encroachments of the white 
men, whom they still outnumbered by nearly two to one, they 
must convert their loose tribal organisation into a powerful 
confederacy under a single leader, and must refuse to sell their 
lands even to the government. Such was the origin of the 
" King '' movement, which was joined by most of the tribes of 
the centre of North Island. 

In i860 a conflict was precipitated through the action of 
the Governor, Colonel Gore-Brown, in buying the Waitara 
Block from a lesser chief in spite of the warning of the supreme 
chief of the tribe that the sale was illegal and that it would lead 
to war. The Governor was empowered by the Colonial Office, 
which still retained control of Maori affairs, to decide disputes on 
his own responsibility without consulting his Cabinet. In his 
ignorance of the land system of the Maoris and of their warlike 
character, he disregarded the warning and sent a party to survey 
the land. The tribe concerned pulled up the pegs, erected a 
pah, and beat off the attack of a British force. Reinforcements 
were sent from Australia and England, but the Maori " King", 
Potatau, brought the newly formed confederacy into the field 
against them. The Maoris, who fought with splendid courage 
and great skill, succeeded in inflicting more than one defeat on 

H. 16 



242 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

British regular troops, and never lost heart in a struggle which 
was foredoomed to failure. At the end of 1861 Sir George 
Grey was sent back as Governor. In spite of his influence, 
which induced many of the loyal Maoris to fight against the 
rebels, peace was not made until 1866. Shortly after Grey's 
departure, another insurrection was raised by the Hau-Haus, 
a party of irreconcilable fanatics who thought themselves invul- 
nerable and who, after being convinced of their error, still 
continued to display the most obstinate valour. They were 
finally defeated in 1869, since when there has been peace 
between the two races. 

During the war Sir George Grey had prevailed on the 
British Government to entrust the colony with the management 
of native affairs. This trust has been faithfully discharged and 
the Maoris have been given representation in the Executive 
Council and House of Representatives. The decline in their 
numbers still continues, but at a reduced rate, and there is some 
hope that it will be altogether arrested by the gospel of some 
of their younger leaders, who look for the salvation of their 
race in work. 

Ever since the institution of the provincial system New Zea- 
land statesmen had been divided on its merits. The central 
government was strengthened by the need for unity during the 
Maori wars, and in 1870 it liegan a policy of railway construction 
which further increased its importance. The " centralists " were 
willing to admit that the provincial system had done good work 
in encouraging development from many centres, but they urged 
that its day was past and that the country was now sufficiently 
unified for a single government. Their arguments carried the 
day at the elections of 1875, and in 1876 the provincial 
organisation was abolished. 

The political development of New Zealand since those days 
has been influenced by, and has influenced, perhaps to an even 
greater extent, that of Australia. Its constitution is equally 
democratic and its views of the functions of the state are similar. 



xiv] NEW ZEALAND 243 

In New Zealand, as in Australia, the government regulates the 
conditions of labour, fixes a minimum wage, and tries to prevent 
industrial strife by making arbitration compulsory and by pena- 
lising strikes and lock-outs. The state owns and manages 
property of all sorts, from railways to thermal baths ; it has its 
own experimental farm and its own vineyard ; it acts as an in- 
surance agent and as a money-lender. The land laws aim at 
preventing the formation of big estates and at encouraging 
small-holders. The criminal law places the first offender under 
strict and careful probation instead of sending him to gaol, 
while it detains indefinitely those habitual criminals in whom 
vice seems an incurable disease. On the other hand, prisoners 
wlio seem capable of reformation are employed in useful and 
healthy work such as farming and afforestation. 

The people of New Zealand bring to the problems of govern- 
ment and of social life the same mental qualities as those of 
Australia — a readiness to learn from the experience of older 
countries coupled with a dread of slavish imitation, a refusal to 
be ruled by the dead hand, a hatred of snobbery, and a profound 
belief in the value of education. It may therefore seem strange 
that New Zealand refused to become a member of the Austra- 
lian Commonwealth. When, however, it is remembered that 
some of the Australian Colonies themselves were reluctant, it is 
not surprising that New Zealand, separated from Australia by 
1200 miles of sea, should have thought that the advantages 
would be more than counterbalanced by the disadvantages, and 
should have preferred to retain her insular freedom. 



16- 



CHAPTER XV 

INDIA 

At the beginning of our period the British dominions in India 
were still administered by the East India Company. Founded 
as a purely mercantile association in 1600, the Company was 
at first dependent on the goodwill of the princes in whose 
dominions it established factories. In the period after the death 
of Aurangzeb (1707) it was forced, in the general lack of govern- 
ance, to consult its own interests and safety. Its development 
into a mihtary and territorial power was hastened by the 
competition of the French Company. The Moghiil Empire was 
crumbling to pieces ; on its ruins Dupleix, who was Governor 
of Pondicherry, the chief of the French settlements, from 1741 
to 1754, determined to erect a French Empire. With this object 
he interfered in the confused politics and warfare of the native 
states. He it was who discovered that the superiority of Euro- 
pean over Indian troops lay not so much in courage or physique 
as in discipline, and that a native army trained and led by 
Europeans was a formidable weapon. But this discovery was 
adopted, not only by native princes, who called in French ad- 
venturers to reorganise their armies, but by the British, who 
possessed in Clive a leader of genius. In any case, Dupleix had 
concentrated his attention too exclusively on India itself, not 
realising that, even had he established an imposing empire, it 
would have been top-heavy unless it were firmly based on sea- 
power. This lesson was clearly brought out in the Seven Years' 
War (1756-63), when the English, thanks to their overwhelming 
superiority at sea, took all the French possessions, thus virtually 
ending the duel. 

Even before this, in a war of reprisals waged against 



CH. xv] INDIA 245 

the Moghul Emperor, Aurangzeb (1687-9) the East India 
Company had begun the struggle with native powers which con- 
verted it into a governing body. These conquests by a joint- 
stock company eventually attracted the attention of the Home 
Government, and led to the passage of Pitt's India Act of 1784. 
This measure estabHshed that system of "double government" 
which remained virtually unchanged until the Mutiny. The 
Company was still to administer the British dominions in India 
and to appoint all officials ; but its policy, both civil and mili- 
tary, was to be dictated from London by a Board of Control 
consisting of six Privy Councillors, presided over by a Secretary 
of State. 

The Board of Control and the Board of Directors were 
agreed on a policy of non-intervention in native politics : the 
34th section of Pitt's India Act stated that "to pursue schemes 
of conquest and extension of dominion in India are measures 
repugnant to the wish, the honour, and policy of this nation." 
But in a period of kaleidoscopic change among the Indian 
states, of ever-shifting boundaries, of constant warfare, of intrigue 
and revolution, such a policy could not be maintained, and it 
was definitely abandoned by Lord Wellesley, Governor-General 
from 1798 to 1805. 

On his arrival in India, Wellesley found that Tipu Sahib of 
Mysore had welcomed French officers and carried on a corre- 
spondence with Napoleon, who was at that moment in Egypt. 
On Tipu's refusal to forsake the French alliance, Wellesley 
alhed himself with the Marathas and the Nizam against him. 
Tipu was defeated and slain, half his kingdom was annexed, 
and the other half given to a representative of the old Hindu 
dynasty, who concluded a subsidiary treaty with the Company. 
These subsidiary treaties were an integral part of Wellesley's 
policy. By them the native ruler received the support of an 
English garrison in return for a grant of territory, while he 
undertook to place his relations with other states under the 
control of the Company. Both parties gained by this arrange- 



246 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

ment : the native prince was able to disband his mutinous and 
untrustworthy mercenaries and was assured of the protection of 
the British in case of attack ; while the Company profited by 
the extension of its peace. 

It was Wellesley's aim to apply this system throughout 
India. He held that the British could not remain stationary, 
that they must either advance or lose ground. He believed 
that it was their duty as well as their destiny to become the 
paramount power, and that they would prevent much bloodshed 
and lawlessness if they made straight for this goal. The main 
obstacle was the Maratha Confederacy, which could muster 
hundreds of thousands of brave and skilful soldiers, including 
the finest light cavalry in the country. The Marathas had ex- 
tended their rule over Western and Central India, while they 
levied blackmail on practically every state of the peninsula. 
They themselves aimed at becoming paramount, and saw their 
organised plunder of the other states threatened by Wellesley's 
plans. The members of the Confederacy were, however, jealous 
of each other, and Wellesley was able to make subsidiary 
treaties with the Peshwa and the Gaekwar of Baroda before 
dealing with Sindhia and Bhonsla. These last were beaten and 
deprived of part of their territories, including Delhi, when the 
Directors, alarmed at such enterprise during the crisis of the 
struggle with Napoleon, recalled Wellesley before he had 
finished his work. The Marathas had been beaten, but their 
power was not utterly destroyed. 

Wellesley's successors, Lord Minto (1807-18 13) and Lord 
Hastings (1813-1823) were strictly forbidden to engage in wars, 
and were themselves prejudiced against his policy. It- became 
evident, however, that his views had been correct. The ele- 
ments of disorder which had been expelled from the recently 
acquired possessions of the Company and from the Indian 
states dependent on it were now concentrated in a smaller 
space. Disbanded soldiers of fortune organised themselves in 
companies and descended on the districts which were beginning 



xv] INDIA 247 

to enjoy the blessings of peace. T\\(tFi?iddris, as they were called, 
usually invaded a state in a body from two to three thousand 
strong, which split up into parties of two or three hundred each. 
They travelled light, they were well mounted, and they were 
accustomed to extraordinary fatigue ; so that they were able to 
decamp with their plunder before a force could be sent against 
them. A Commission which enquired into a raid of 1816 re- 
ported that "they were eleven days and a half in the Company's 
territories. The total number of the villages they plundered 
were {sic) 339, of persons killed 182, of persons wounded 505 
(184 severely), and 3603 persons were tortured in different 
ways " to make them disclose their valuables. The inhabitants 
of a village they surrounded in this raid set fire to their homes 
and rushed into the flames rather than fall into the hands of 
such enemies. 

After this particular raid Hastings determined on strong 
measures. The real difficulty was that the Pindaris found a 
refuge in the territories of the Maratha chiefs, who were anxious 
to revive their confederacy and who saw in them valuable 
auxiliaries. Hastings, however, was bent on organising Central 
India and making its rulers responsible for good order. In 18 17 
the Marathas were beaten, deprived of part of their territories, 
and forced to sign subsidiary treaties. The ground was thus 
cut from under the feet of the Pindaris, who were hunted down 
within three months. 

The whole of India except Sind, the Punjab, and Nepal 
was now either directly ruled by the Company or bound to it 
by subsidiary treaties. The period of almost unbroken peace 
from 1806 to 1838 gave leisure for the organisation of the 
English territories. There was much to be done ; for in the 
century which had elapsed since the death of Aurangzeb, few 
districts had known law and order. The Company was served 
by a number of reformers of high character and great ability, 
who were guided by two main principles. In the first place, 
they wished to respect Indian ideas and customs as far a? 



248 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

possible. Thus the land tax regulations differed in the different 
states, as they were based upon a careful enquiry into the local 
customs. In the second place, they sought to give India what 
was best in European civilisation. In 1835 the foundations 
were laid of an educational system. Macaulay's famous minute 
decided that English, not Sanskrit or Arabic, should be the 
language of instruction. Where native customs were flagrantly 
opposed to European ideas of morality, as were infanticide and 
sati (the burning of a Hindu widow on the funeral pyre of her 
husband), they were declared illegal, in spite of their quasi- 
religious sanction. The English officials of this period repeatedly 
laid stress on the fact that their powers must be exercised for 
the benefit of the Indians, until they should be able to govern 
themselves. It was partly in this spirit that Parliament passed 
an Act in 1833 which deprived the Company of its trading 
functions and made it a governing body pure and simple. 

Another period of warfare began with the Governor- General- 
ship of Lord Auckland (1836-1842). Auckland had been a 
member of Melbourne's cabinet, and was in full sympathy with 
its foreign policy. It will be remembered that one of Palmer- 
ston's guiding principles was fear of Russia. The gradual 
extension of Russian authority in the direction of Persia and 
Afghanistan made Auckland anxious for the North-West fron- 
tier of India. At that time Afghanistan was separated from 
British India by the Punjab, whose ruler, Pvanjit Sing, was on 
excellent terms with the Company. Dost Mohammad, the Amir 
of Kabul, was encouraged by a Russian Agent to attempt to 
recover Peshawur from Ranjit Sing, and thus to control the 
Khaibar Pass on both sides. Auckland imagined that this 
would mean a Russian invasion of India, and he tried to force 
Dost Mohammad to give up his design. When diplomatic 
means failed, he sent a force to dethrone him and to establish 
a pretender on the throne of Afghanistan. At first his bold 
policy seemed justified. The British army found transport 
difficult over deserts and passes ; but it entered Kabul without 



xv] INDIA 249 

encounteringarmed opposition (August 1839). Dost Mohammad 
gave himself up, and the puppet king was enthroned. For two 
years all went well, and the country was so quiet that the 
government contemplated reducing the army of occupation. 
Then, in November 1841, a riot broke out at Kabul in which 
the British political officer was murdered. General Elphinstone 
remained inactive, and made no use of his troops to restore 
order. The chiefs were encouraged to join the movement, and 
the riot became a revolution. Elphinstone, who was a martyr 
to gout, was incapable of forming a decision, and at last con- 
cluded a treaty with Dost Mohammad's son, by which he 
promised to surrender all the treasure and most of the guns, in 
return for a safe-conduct back to India. On January 6th, 1842, 
the British army of 15,000 or 16,000 men began its mid-winter 
march through some of the wildest country in the world. The 
fierce tribesmen paid no respect to the safe-conduct, and harried 
the column as it straggled through the defiles of the Kabul 
river. On January 13th Dr Brydon reached Jalalabad, and in- 
formed the horrified garrison that he was the sole survivor of an 
army. 

What could be done to retrieve this disaster was done. 
The garrisons of Jalalabad and Kandahar held out gallantly, 
and, after the despatch of reinforcements from India, fought 
their way to Kabul. There they recovered the ladies and child- 
ren (who had not been ill-treated), and, after blowing up the 
bazaar and palace, withdrew to India. Dost Mohammad was 
set free and soon defeated his rivals. Now that Englishmen 
had seen the passes for themselves, they refused to believe that 
a Russian army of any size could invade India through Afghan- 
istan. It was nearly forty years before an English army was again 
sent against Kabul. 

The Afghan policy of Lord Auckland led to the annexation 
of Sind and of the Punjab. The rulers of Sind had naturally 
objected to the passage of the expedition of 1839 through their 
country. Disputes arose about the interpretation of their treaties 



250 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

with the Company, and in 1843 their territory was annexed with 
little difficulty. 

The conquest of the Punjab was undertaken with more 
reluctance. The Punjab was the country of the Sikhs, or 
"disciples", a religious body founded in the i6th century, 
whose creed was a mixture of the best elements of Hinduism 
and Mohammedanism. From 1780 to 1839 they were ruled 
over by Ranjit Sing, who organised his army on European lines. 
Strong though he was, he was too wary to quarrel with the 
Company. On his death the army became supreme, and was 
encouraged by the Kabul disaster to clamour for a trial of 
strength with the English. In December 1845 60,000 Sikhs 
crossed the Sutlej, men of fine physique, admirably disciplined, 
burning with religious zeal, and armed with modern weapons. 
General Gough underestimated their fighting qualities, and 
lost 2,415 men killed and wounded in an indecisive battle at 
Firozshahr before he crushed them at Sobraon (February 1846). 
The Sikhs could offer no further resistance, and ceded part of 
their territory ; but in April 1848 they again rose, this time with 
the aid of Dost Mohammad. Gough had learnt little from ex- 
perience. On January 13th, 1849, he attacked the Sikhs at 
Chilianwala without reconnoitring their position, and lost 697 
men killed, 1,641 wounded, 4 guns and 3 standards. In Feb- 
ruary he atoned for this reverse by winning a decisive victory at 
Gujarat, which forced the Sikhs to submit. The Punjab was 
annexed, and was administered by a commission which included 
Henry and John Lawrence. 

When the second Sikh war broke out, the Governor-General 
was Lord Dalhousie, a disciple of Peel and a man of great 
ability, fine character, and remarkable energy. In his eight 
years of office (1848-1856) he wore out his frail constitution, and 
returned to his Scottish home only to die. He gave his very 
best to India, throwing himself heart and soul into every scheme 
which could improve the condition of her peoples. He reor- 
ganised the postal system, fixing the charge for letters at half an 



xv] INDIA 251 

anna {^d.). He planned and began the construction of a system 
of trunk railways. Within two years from his arrival 4,000 miles 
of telegraph were in working order. The Grand Trunk Road, 
which had reached Delhi, was extended through the new 
province of the Punjab. Irrigation works were begun on 
a huge scale : in April 1854 the main Ganges canal was opened, 
which was 525 miles long and 170 feet broad at its widest point. 
Branches had already been begun which would bring its total 
length to 900 miles and enable it to irrigate 1,500,000 acres of 
land. Dalhousie improved agriculture, encouraged horse and 
sheep breeding, tea and cotton growing, and the planting of 
fruit-trees. Nor was it only the material side of life which 
interested him : he instituted a system of vernacular schools, 
and established Universities at Calcutta, Madras and Bom- 
bay. 

The scattered nature of the Company's dominions was a 
serious hindrance to the execution of such vast schemes. 
" Dalhousie was a Scotchman bred on the Shorter Catechism, 
and he had a sort of ferocious logicality of mind and a resolute 
thoroughness which were curiously un-English : he was not a 
man of compromises and half-measures." Many of the Indian 
princes under the protection of the Company were so weak and 
incompetent that they would have lost their thrones from foreign 
conquest or internal revolt had that protection been removed. 
Dalhousie disapproved of this system, and definitely aimed at 
consolidating the Company's possessions by the incorporation 
of Indian states. On the death without heirs of the ruler of a 
state which had been created or revived by the Company, Dal- 
housie, applying the strict letter of the law, refused to admit the 
claims of an adopted son, and insisted that the state had lapsed 
and become part of the British dominions. On these grounds 
he incorporated seven of the central states in British India. His 
annexation of Oudh stood on a different footing. The king of 
Oudh was a miserable creature who allowed his subjects to be 
ground down by the parasites of his court. In 1856, after 



252 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

refusing to heed the repeated warnings of the Governor-General, 
he was dethroned and given a pension. 

In certain regions there was much unrest even before Dal- 
housie assumed office, and this unrest was increased by some 
of his reforms, in which Hindus were apt to see an organised 
plot against the caste observances which constituted their re- 
ligion. The telegraph was obviously worked by black magic. 
The Government's object in building railways was to mingle 
different castes. When Dalhousie removed all legal obstacles to 
the re-marriage of Hindu widows, he was only showing his de- 
sign more openly. In refusing to admit the validity of adoption 
he was striking, not at a civil contract, but at a religious 
ceremony ; since it was necessary for a Hindu to have a son to 
perform his funeral rites. Moreover, though a strong case could 
be made out for each of his annexations separately, taken to- 
gether they seemed to confirm his policy of uprooting native 
institutions. 

With all his brilliant gifts, Dalhousie lacked that sympathy 
which would have enabled him to understand the attitude of 
Indians towards his reforms. Convinced that his measures 
were just and beneficial, he cared little whether they were 
popular. He annexed Oudh in the interests of its inhabitants, 
who would undoubtedly be governed more justly, more honestly, 
and more efficiently by the British than by their incompetent 
king. But the East cares little for material progress. The 
people of Oudh preferred the personal rule of their own king to 
the colourless efficiency of an alien bureaucracy. Men like 
Henry Lawrence and Outram, who had gained a sympathetic 
insight into the conservative Indian mind, opposed the policy 
of wholesale annexation. 

Dalhousie was not blind to the fact that his work might cause 
alarm, and that its ultimate sanction was force. In his last official 
minute he wrote: — " No prudent man who has any knowledge 
of Eastern affairs would ever venture to predict the maintenance 
of continued peace within our Eastern possessions... War from 



xv] INDIA 253 

without, or rebellion from within, may at any time be raised 
against us." He therefore warned the Government to maintain 
a proper proportion of white troops in the army. Since the time 
of CUve the British army in India had consisted mainly of 
Indian troops, of whom more than three-quarters were Hindus. 
Besides sharing in the general unrest, the sepoys had particular 
grievances of their own. Now that the Punjab was part of British 
India, service beyond the Sutlej carried no extra allowances. 
The General Service Enlistment Oath of 1856, which made 
willingness to serve overseas a condition of enlistment, was very 
unpopular even among old soldiers, who thought themselves 
bound by the oath taken by recruits. Then came the rumour 
that the cartridges for the new Enfield rifle were greased with 
the fat of swine and cows^. Whether the tale was true or not 
is still uncertain : the important fact is that the Government had 
given no consideration to a point which it regarded as trivial. 
Frenzied with terror, the sepoys rejected the assurances of their 
officers that no attack was intended on their religion, and gave 
ready credence to the gossip of the bazaars. 

Had the military prestige of Great Britain not been tarnished 
by recent events, the smouldering discontent might never have 
burst into flame. But the mistakes made in the Afghan and 
Sikh wars had shaken the confidence of the sepoys in their 
officers. Exaggerated reports of the blunders committed in the 
Crimea had strengthened the impression that the military power 
of Great Britain was declining. The recent annexations had led 
to an increase of native troops, who now numbered over 300,000; 
while the white troops, who had furnished contingents for the 
Crimea, amounted to less than 40,000. The native officers, 
though for the most part passively loyal, had no control over 
their men. The standard of efficiency among the British officers 
was low. Lord Roberts criticised "the strict system of pro- 
motion by seniority which entailed the employment of brigadiers 
of seventy, colonels of sixty and captains of fifty." " Command- 
^ The cow is sacred to the Hindu ; the pig unclean to the Mohammedan. 



254 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

ing officers are inefficient"; wrote Dalhousie, "brigadiers are 
no better ; divisional officers are worse than either, because they 
are older and more done." Few of the senior officers were equal 
to the crisis: India was saved by men who had left the army 
and had sought scope for their talents in administrative 
work. 

Dalhousie had been succeeded in 1856 by Lord Canning, 
third son of the Prime Minister. In the spring of 1857 the 
tension among the Indians increased. An old prophecy was 
revived that the British raj would end a century after Plassey. 
Chapatis (flat cakes of flour and water) were carried from village 
to village as a vague warning that something mysterious was 
about to happen. The sepoys were subject alternately to fits 
of gloom and of excitement. As early as February the General 
at Barrackpore wrote, " We have been dwelling upon a mine 
ready for explosion." 

In the summer, after some preliminary rumblings, the storm 
burst. On May 9th, 85 native troopers at Meerut, who had refused 
to accept the cartridges served out to them, were sentenced by a 
court-martial of native officers to ten years' imprisonment. The 
next day was a Sunday. When the white troops were at evening 
service, the sepoys rose and rescued their imprisoned comrades. 
Then, half in panic, they began to march to Delhi, forty miles 
away. Though General Hewitt had almost as many English as 
Indian troops under his command, he made no attempt to pur- 
sue the mutineers and nip the movement in the bud. Arrived 
at Delhi, the sepoys dragged the aged king from his retirement 
and proclaimed him Moghul Emperor. The city was soon in 
their power, and the revolt seemed likely to become a revolution. 
Canning at once summoned reinforcements from Burma, Ceylon 
and Madras, and diverted the troops which were on their way 
to the war in China. At the time, however, only 3,800 British 
soldiers could be collected against Delhi, and these had to con- 
tent themselves with seizing the Ridge to the north of the city 
(June 8th). 



xv] INDIA 255 

After a brief interval of uneasy calm, the movement spread 
down the valley of the Ganges to the North-West Provinces 
and Oudh, where the discontent caused by annexation had been 
rendered more dangerous by a series of unfortunate events. 
Since Dalhousie had annexed Oudh on the very eve of his re- 
tirement (February 1856), he had refrained from cramping his 
successor's freedom by arranging the details of administration, 
of which the most important was the dismantling of the 250 
castles and the disbanding of the 100,000 retainers of the nobles. 
Unfortunately Colonel James Outram', who had been Resident 
at the court of the deposed king, was prevented by ill-health 
from remaining to superintend the change of government. 
Coverley Jackson, his successor, not only lacked his sym- 
pathy and influence, but by his harsh treatment of the idlukddrs, 
or revenue collectors, created the impression that the British 
Government had no respect for vested interests. Jackson was 
relieved by Sir Henry Lawrence, who was admirably fitted to 
remove this impression, had there been time; but when the 
Mutiny broke out he had only been two months at Lucknow, 
and the nobles had not been disarmed. 

The rebellion of five native regiments at Lucknow on 
May 30th gave the signal for a general rising throughout Oudh. 
On June 30th Lawrence marched out to meet the rebels in the 
open, but was betrayed by his native gunners and forced to 
retire into the Residency, which he had fortified. With 927 
Englishmen, including civilians, and 765 faithful sepoys he de- 
fended this position against an army which soon numbered over 
50,000. On July 2nd he was mortally wounded, but he left a 
worthy successor in General Inglis, who maintained an impreg- 

' Outram, " the Bayard of India", was the original of Jan Chinn in 
Kipling's Tomb of his Ancestors. The story of his foundation of the Bhil 
Irregular Corps shows what marvellous results may be achieved in the treat- 
ment of savage tribes by means of perseverance, humanity, and a command- 
ing personality. His whole life illustrates what was best in the rule of the 
Company, and teaches the old lesson that institutions are less important than 
the men who work them. 



256 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

nable defence in spite of heat, cholera and fever. Had the 
Residency fallen, and had the Oudh mutineers been free to 
join their comrades at Delhi, the British power in India must 
have been overthrown for the time. 

In many another station in Northern India isolated British 
garrisons maintained a stubborn defence against overwhelming 
odds. It was not simply that individual deeds of valour were 
performed : men and women, soldiers and civilians, officers and 
men, their numbers reduced by disease and the attacks of the 
enemy, their strength sapped by the sweltering heat of an Indian 
summer, their nerves strained by ceaseless vigil, bore themselves 
as heroes during every minute of those awful months. 

Of all the events of the Mutiny the most terrible occurred 
at Cawnpore. Here General Wheeler had relied implicitly on 
the loyalty of his native troops, and entrusted the treasure to the 
body-guard of the Nana Sahib. The Nana had a grudge against 
the Company, which had refused to pay him the pension granted 
to the ex-Peshwa, who had adopted him. He concealed his 
hatred and was on excellent terms with the English officers, 
whom he entertained lavishly at his residence at Bithur, not far 
from Cawnpore. On June 6th, the four native regiments at Cawn- 
pore rebelled and marched to Bithur, where they proclaimed 
the Nana Peshwa, and asked him to lead them to Delhi. Think- 
ing that he might be able to carve a kingdom for himself out of 
Oudh, he persuaded them to return to Cawnpore. Wheeler, who 
had made no adequate preparations for defence in case of 
an outbreak, concentrated his forces in the military hospital 
and its enclosure. Here 240 soldiers and 870 non-combatants 
defended a mud wall four feet high. The only well was com- 
manded by rebel snipers, and water for washing was out of the 
question. Even under these conditions the garrison held out 
with such determination that the Nana despaired of capturing 
the place, and offered to provide the defenders with a safe- 
conduct and boats to take them down the Ganges. His offer was 
accepted, and on June 2 7th the embarkation took place. As soon 



xv] INDIA 257 

as all the English were on board, the boatmen set fire to the 
boats, and the sepoys on the bank poured a hail of bullets into 
them. Most of the boats stuck on the mud; two drifted to the 
bank; and one got away without oars, rudder, or provisions. 
After a series of incredible adventures, four of its occupants 
finally reached safety. The women and children, some 150 in 
number, were well treated until the Nana heard of the approach 
of the army of vengeance. Then, on July 15th, he sent in five 
ruffians to murder them. The assassins did their work imper- 
fectly; but the bodies of all the victims, dead and dying alike, 
were tumbled into a dry well. 

Meanwhile the news of the massacre at the river-bank had 
goaded the small relieving force to superhuman efforts. At the 
beginning of July General Havelock, who had just returned 
from the Persian campaign, collected 1,500 men at Allahabad. 
Though the Highlanders under his command were still wearing 
the woollen clothing which had been issued for a Persian winter, 
they covered the 126 miles to Cawnpore in nine days, winning 
four pitched battles on their way. The last two actions were fought 
on the 15th; that night the British marched 14 miles; and next 
day they scattered the Nana's forces before Cawnpore. A week 
later Havelock started for Lucknow. But transport was difficult, 
the rain was incessant, his men suffered from cholera, the whole 
country was hostile, and his communications were threatened by 
the Gwalior rebels. Despite the ardour of his men, who were 
for pressing on at all costs, he was compelled to retire to Cawn- 
pore, there to await reinforcements. 

Reinforcements were slow in coming. Failing to grasp the 
magnitude of the danger, the Home Government, instead of im- 
mediately despatching every available man by the overland route, 
were slow in sending even small bodies of troops in sailing ships 
via the Cape ; thus it was near the end of October when the first 
reinforcements from England reached Calcutta. For the time 
being the fate of India depended on the forces already there. 

The prospect was not entirely hopeless. If, as some authori- 

H. 17 



258 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

ties believe, the Mutiny was the result of a carefully laid plot, 
it betrayed in its execution few traces of design. The efforts of 
the mutineers were not co-ordinated towards a single end. They 
were demoralised by their revolt against authority. The sepoys 
of the Bombay and Madras Presidencies, who were mainly re- 
cruited from the lower castes, were true to their salt. Most 
important of all, the loyalty of the Punjab enabled it to be used 
as a base for the recapture of Delhi. 

Though the Punjab had not long been part of British India, 
it was almost unaffected by the Mutiny. There were, it is true, 
sporadic outbreaks on the part of native regiments drawn from 
other parts of India, but the Sikhs themselves rallied to the side 
of the British — they know a man when they see one, and in 
John Lawrence and his subordinates, Herbert Edwardes, Neville 
Chamberlain, and John Nicholson, they found rulers after their 
own hearts. " Don't be afraid of acting on your own responsi- 
bility..." wrote Lawrence, "trust the Irregulars and the natives 
of the Punjab generally, but utterly mistrust the Regular army." 
Realising the supreme necessity of recapturing Delhi, even at 
the cost of abandoning the Punjab if necessary, he immediately 
sent the Guides, who marched 27 miles a day for three weeks, 
arriving at Delhi on June 9th. Meanwhile the sepoys in the 
Punjab were disarmed, a movable column traversed the province, 
and the Sikhs were enrolled in new regiments. Dost Mohammad 
of Afghanistan, who had fought against us in the Second Sikh 
War, remained faithful to the treaties of friendship which had 
since been concluded with him. 

When all danger, internal and external, was thus averted, 
Lawrence sent John Nicholson (a Brigadier-General at 35) with 
the movable column to Delhi. When Nicholson arrived on 
August 14th he raised the British forces to 11,000 men; but 
3,000 of these were in hospital, and the Ridge was exposed to 
ceaseless attacks from the 50,000 sepoys in the city. Under these 
circumstances Archdale Wilson, who was in command, was for 
remaining on the defensive, and was only persuaded with great 



xv] INDIA 259 

difficulty that the true policy was an offensive. On September 1 1 th 
the batteries opened the bombardment; on the 14th the breaches 
were stormed; and after a week's house-to-house fighting, in 
which Nicholson was killed, the whole of Delhi was once more 
in British hands. Its recapture, which was mainly due to John 
Lawrence's foresight, was the turning-point of the Mutiny. 

The day after Nicholson forced his way into Delhi, Havelock 
was joined at Cawnpore by Sir James Outram, who refused to 
take over the command until Lucknow was reached, serving 
meanwhile as a volunteer. Reaching the suburbs of Lucknow 
on September 25th, they had to fight their way through the 
maze of streets, overcoming obstacles which Havelock himself 
compared to those encountered at Saragossa, before they could 
join hands with Inglis. Though the combined forces were not 
strong enough to make a safe passage through the city for the 
women and children, the addition of 2,500 fighting men enabled 
the garrison to hold out until further help could come from 
Calcutta. 

Sir Colin Campbell, the new Commander-in-Chief, had 
reached Calcutta on August 17th, and was organising the re- 
inforcements which were beginning to arrive. Setting out on 
October 27th, he attacked Lucknow on November 14th, and 
reached the Residency on the 17th. Then, leaving Outram to 
hold the Alambagh outside the city (Havelock died during the 
evacuation), he safely withdrew the main garrison. He next 
turned against the Gwalior rebels, who had temporarily cut his 
communications by seizing Cawnpore. Completely defeating 
them, he rounded up the other mutineers and drove them into 
Lucknow. He could now muster over 30,000 men against a 
garrison of 150,000, and in March 1858 he again fought his 
way into Lucknow. 

Unfortunately Campbell allowed the great majority of the 
rebel troops to make their escape from Lucknow, while a pro- 
clamation issued by Canning was interpreted by the landowners 
of Oudh as a measure of wholesale confiscation. In consequence, 

17 — 2 



26o THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

a guerrilla warfare was still maintained in Oudh and Gwalior 
which proved exceedingly troublesome. The British armies, 
though uniformly successful in the field, were not large enough 
to garrison the whole of the disaffected area. It was not 
until April 1859 that the last rebel leader was captured and 
executed. 

The vengeance wreaked upon the mutineers was as terrible 
as their crimes had been. According to the Governor-General, 
the special commissions established to try them were guilty of 
"indiscriminate judicial murder". More than 3,000 rebels were 
hanged at Delhi alone. Many of the condemned sepoys were 
made to lose caste before execution, thus being robbed of their 
hopes for the next world. 

Another point worth noting in the story of the Mutiny is 
the fact that "the very reforms that excited so much alarm 
proved to be instruments for quelling the tumult of which alarm 
was one source." Had it not been for the roads, railways, and 
telegraphs which Dalhousie had made, and had he not pacified 
the Punjab, the task of restoring order would have been far 
harder. 

It must be remembered also that the Mutiny was local and 
partial. It was confined almost entirely to the sepoys, and to 
the valley of the Ganges. Only in Oudh and Gwalior did it 
affect all classes of the population. The native princes either 
held aloof or rendered valuable aid to the British. Sikhs helped 
to take Delhi, Gurkhas to take Lucknow. The sepoys of the 
Bombay and Madras Presidencies remained loyal, and many 
of those in Bengal were faithful unto death. Such men as 
Havelock, Outram, Nicholson and the two Lawrences had, by 
their ability and integrity, completely won the confidence of 
their Indian troops. 

For the remainder of this chapter it will be convenient to 
abandon chronological treatment and to deal with the main 
tendencies of Indian history since the Mutiny. 



xv] INDIA 261 

One of the consequences of the Mutiny was the transference 
of the powers of the East India Company to the Crown. This 
change, though mainly a matter of form, was calculated to im- 
press the Eastern mind: a prince who felt it humiliating to 
be the vassal of an impersonal company might take pride in 
acknowledging the Queen of England as his suzerain. The 
Crown was to act through a Secretary of State advised by the 
Council of India, which met weekly. On November ist, 1858, 
the Queen's proclamation announcing the change was published. 
She laid especial stress on her policy of toleration for all creeds, 
on her lack of any desire to extend her territories, and on her 
intention of respecting the rights and dignities of the Indian 
princes. 

These promises have been faithfully observed: since that 
date no addition has been made to the British territories in 
India proper. The external relations of the Indian rulers are 
under the control of the Indian Government, which arbitrates 
in disputes, settles questions of precedence, and fixes salutes. 
Within their own dominions the rulers are despotic : they make 
their own laws, appoint their own judges and other officials, 
and found colleges and schools, or do without them, as they 
please. At each court there is stationed a British Resident, who 
gives advice when he is consulted, but has no independent 
authority. Only in cases of grave misuse of power does the 
Indian Government interfere: in extreme cases it may even 
depose the ruler and replace him by another member of the 
royal family. These protected states form a third of the area 
of India and have a total population of 77,000,000. 

Though there has been unbroken peace in India itself since 
the Mutiny, the frontiers have continued to give trouble. Three 
times in the 19th century we were forced into war with Burma, 
which was annexed piece-meal until it was entirely British. 
The question of the North-West frontier again became acute in 
1878 because of the continued advance of Russia, who had 
now extended her protectorate as far as the boundaries of 



262 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

Afghanistan. In that year Russian intrigues at Kabul led to 
the occupation of Afghanistan by a British army. The tragic 
story of 1 842 was repeated. A British force lost nearly a thousand 
killed at Maiwand, after which the victorious Afghans invested 
Kandahar (1880). The situation was saved by Sir Frederick 
(afterwards Lord) Roberts. Leaving Kabul on August 9th with 
an army of 10,000 British, Gurkhas, and Sikhs, in three weeks 
he marched 318 miles through a trackless and hostile country, 
and crushed the Afghans in front of Kandahar, Just before this 
a wise step had been taken. Abdurrahman, one of the claimants 
to the throne, was recognised as Amir by the British Govern- 
ment and was given a subsidy on condition that he had no 
relations with other powers. It was to the interest of India that 
Afghanistan should be a strong and united kingdom in firm 
hands. In 1886 Great Britain and Russia signed a convention 
for the delimitation of the frontier between Afghanistan and 
Russia, and in 1907 Russia, besides recognising the British pro- 
tectorate over Afghanistan, came to an agreement with Great 
Britain about their respective spheres of influence in Persia. 

Since the Mutiny India has taken the first steps in the 
transition from an archaic to a modern economic system. Up 
to the middle of the 19th century the key-note of Indian eco- 
nomic life was isolation. Access to the interior was rendered 
difficult by the absence of arms of the sea and the scarcity of 
navigable rivers. Until the time of Dalhousie there were no 
railways and very few good roads. The difficulty and expense 
of communication forced each village to rely on its own resources. 
Production on a large scale and its corollary, the division of 
labour, were impossible until goods could be cheaply and easily 
transported from one locality to another. Each village had its 
carpenter and its blacksmith, who did all the simple wood- and 
iron-work required. One characteristic of the village system, in 
medieval Europe as well as in India, is the recurrence of local 
or general famines. If, from any cause, the crops fail in a dis- 



xv] INDIA 263 

trict, it is in the position of a beleaguered city. Food cannot be 
brought in from more fortunate areas, and the population suffers 
the horrors of a siege. 

At first sight it would seem that the economic structure of 
India has been little affected by the Industrial Revolution. At 
the beginning of the 20th century it contained only nine cities 
with a population of over 200,000; 70 per cent, of the popula- 
tion were engaged in agricultural pursuits, and 90 per cent, 
lived in villages \ In the last half of the 19th century, 
however, the isolation of the Indian village was broken down 
by the construction of roads and railways. The whole of 
Northern India is now a single market for corn. Irrigation 
works were carried out on an enormous scale: in 19 10 there 
were 23,000,000 acres of irrigated land. In the Punjab alone 
the Government had settled a million agricultural colonists on 
fertile lands which, being outside the monsoon area, had formerly 
been rainless and arid. In addition, the Indian Government 
established a fund for the relief of distress in districts where 
the monsoon failed. Despite these improvements and precau- 
tions, famines still recurred, those of 1896 and 1 899-1 900 being 
responsible for 1,750,000 deaths in British India alone. The 
economic position of the Indian peasant is, in fact, one of 
unstable equilibrium. The pax Britannica has resulted in a large 
addition to the population, which increased by 20 per cent, 
between 1881 and 191 1. India has a total population of 
315,000,000, which means that there is great competition for 
land. The average holding of the peasant is five acres, on which 
he supports himself and his family. About one-seventeenth of 
his produce goes to the Government in the form of land-tax. 
(The Moghul Emperor used to take one-third.) In indirect 
taxation he pays less than 2s. a year. His wants are few, and 
he is contented with what would seem to a European peasant 

^ In 191 1, 3'4 per cent, of the people of England and Wales were 
engaged in agriculture ; 78 per cent, lived in towns or urban districts ; and 
nearly 25 per cent, were concentrated in towns of 250,000 inhabitants or over. 



264 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

a low standard of comfort. But he has a small margin of safety, 
and cannot make provision for lean years. His lack of capital 
has hitherto placed him at the mercy of the bania, or village 
corn-dealer and money-lender, whose rate of usury sometimes 
amounted to 200 per cent, per annum. Since the beginning of 
this century the growth of Co-operative Credit Societies has 
enabled large numbers of peasants to obtain capital without 
becoming hopelessly involved in debt, and has taught them 
thrift, foresight and independence. The Government, too, has 
strengthened the position of the small tenant by giving him 
legal protection against eviction and arbitrary increase of rent. 

The characteristic features of the Industrial Revolution are 
not always easy to detect in agriculture, where there is little 
scope for the division of labour, and where the small holder, 
aided by the members of his family, can long maintain himself 
against the large farmer. One of the differences between an 
archaic and a modern economic system is that, in the former, 
goods are produced for consumption, in the latter for sale. This 
is simply another way of saying that the medieval village was 
self-sufficing, and that the modern industrial town depends upon 
exchange. This test cannot be applied rigidly to agriculture, as 
every farmer eats some of the produce of his farm. Up to the 
middle of the 19th century, farming in India was almost entirely 
for subsistence : there was little internal and practically no foreign 
trade in corn. In the villages money was hardly known, all pay- 
ments being made in kind. India has since become one of the 
great corn-exporting countries of the world, and there are few 
villages where commutation has not taken place. Here, as in 
other countries, improved means of communication and the in- 
troduction of a money economy are acting as powerful solvents 
of rural life. 

One member of the village community has already been 
hard hit by the Industrial Revolution. The hand-loom weaver 
still plies his craft, for labour is so cheap in India that machinery 
does not materially reduce the cost of production. But he finds 



xv] INDIA 265 

it more and more difficult to face the competition of the cotton 
mills, not only of Manchester, but of Bombay. For in industry 
the change is marked. The factory system has taken firm root. 
The cotton and jute mills alone employ more than a quarter of 
a million operatives. Mining is steadily growing in importance. 
In the second half of the 19th century the foreign trade increased 
five-fold. So far, it must be repeated, the Industrial Revolution 
in India is only in its infancy, but it shows every sign of vigorous 
growth. 

During the famine year of 1896 a new danger appeared in 
the shape of the bubonic plague. This terrible disease, known 
to English history as the Black Death and the Great Plague, 
made its way from China, and has since remained endemic. In 
14 years it caused the deaths of 7,000,000 persons. Up to 
the present the attempts made to deal with it have met with 
only a small measure of success, as they have been hampered 
by the religious prejudices of the people. Here, as in so many 
other departments of administration, the Government has been 
confronted by the problem of caste. There are in India more 
than 2,000 castes, whose relations with each other are so strictly 
limited that a member of the lowest caste will defile a Brahman 
at a distance of 64 feet. "Caste may forbid an Indian to kill 
plague-infected rats in his house, and religion may require him 
to use a polluted well." As his religious ceremonial extends to 
the ordinary things of life — to eating, drinking and washing — it 
is impossible to apply Western methods of dealing with disease 
by means of isolation, hospital treatment, and the establishment 
of a general supply of pure water. 

During the last generation another problem has been steadily 
growing in importance — the demand of Indians, not for good 
government, but for self-government. The Mutiny showed the 
British authorities that it was necessary to get into touch with 
Indian opinion. In 1861 the Governor-General was empowered 
to nominate additional members to his Council for legislation, 
and the Provincial Councils were similarly given a non-official 



266 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

element. The Indian members who were admitted to every 
Council under this Act were given an opportunity of expressing 
their views and of hearing the policy of the Government ex- 
plained. This was the sole purpose of the innovation. The 
executive was to have the benefit of advice, but its actions were 
in no way to be controlled by the Councils, which were not 
regarded as having any of the powers of a Parliament. 

This theory of government did not satisfy those Indians 
who had received a university education and had learnt from 
Western sources the principles of self-government. Necessarily 
debarred from the higher administrative posts, where alone there 
was room for initiative, they wished the Councils to become 
real Parliaments, to which the executive should be responsible. 
In 1885 a number of delegates from the whole of India met at 
Bombay and founded the Indian National Congress, which has 
since met annually. Largely as the result of its demands, the 
Indian Councils Act of 1892 gave certain definite privileges to 
the Councils, including the right of discussing the Budget, and 
added fresh members who were appointed by public bodies. 

After that date the difference of opinion between the execu- 
tive and the Congress grew more marked and more dangerous. 
The government of India is administered by a bureaucracy which 
has never been excelled for ability and unselfishness. The 
Englishmen who carried on the business of government claimed 
that they possessed a better knowledge of the needs of the real 
India than the one million Indians who could speak English. 
They argued that the ideas of nationality and democracy could 
not be applied to a country where national feeling was non- 
existent and where not one man in ten could read and write. 
They denied the right of the city lawyer or journalist to speak 
for the millions of peasants who knew nothing of politics. 
Regarding social reform as a necessary preliminary to responsible 
government, they asked why educated Indians did not apply 
themselves to the abolition of child-marriage, the freeing of 
widows from a life of misery, and the raising of the depressed 



xv] INDIA 267 

castes, instead of attending innumerable congresses and repeat- 
ing vague phrases about self-government. 

The educated Indians, on the other hand, claimed to have 
the interests of their country at heart as truly as any foreigners. 
Admitting that self-government would mean diminished effi- 
ciency, they argued that the loss would be more than counter- 
balanced by its bracing effect on the national character. They 
begged the Government to train them gradually for Home Rule 
by giving them instalments of responsibility. 

The failure of the British authorities to sympathise with the 
ideals of the moderate Indian reformers strengthened the hands 
of the extremists. Encouraged by the prolonged resistance of 
the Boers, by the victory of an Asiatic over a European power 
in the Russo-Japanese War, and by the first successes of the 
Russian Duma, the younger men began to dream of severing 
all connection with Great Britain and establishing an Indian 
Republic whose civilisation should be purely Eastern. Their 
violent abuse in the press of everything British and their 
murderous attacks on officials aroused the attention of Parlia- 
ment, which had taken only a fitful interest in Indian affairs 
since the extinction of the Company. Lord Morley, the Liberal 
Secretary for India, gave the Indian executive stringent coercive 
powers to deal with political crime, but tried at the same time to 
find a remedy for the discontent of which it was a symptom. In 
conjunction with Lord Minto, the Viceroy, he further increased 
the number of quasi-representative members of the Councils, 
so as to give a majority to the non-official element except in 
the Viceroy's Council. At the same time the Councils were 
given unrestricted powers of criticism and discussion (1909). 

The Morley-Minto reforms, though welcomed by the Indian 
Nationalists as a token of good-will, did little to satisfy their 
aspirations. They already had enough opportunities for talking : 
what they wanted was a share of responsibiUty. Then came 
the Great War, which quickened interest in the constitution of 
the Empire and made Great Britain and her Allies the champions 



268 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. xv 

of subject nationalities. If only for the sake of consistency, 
thought Indian patriots, Great Britain must concede the principle 
of Home Rule for India. But the expected pronouncement 
was long in coming ; German intrigue was at work ; and in the 
Congress of 191 6 the extremists made themselves supreme. 
Finally, in August 1 9 1 7 (as this chapter was being written), Mr 
Montagu told the House of Commons that India must be given 
responsible government in easy stages, and announced his 
intention of going out to discuss the first measures to be taken. 
Great Britain and India are thus jointly committed to the 
most interesting and important constitutional experiment in 
history. The question of the future is whether the British 
Government of India, which has been successful as a bene- 
volent despot, can continue the good work as a constitutional 
sovereign. 



CHAPTER XVI 

EGYPT 

Reference has already been made to Mehemet Ali, the "Peter 
the Great " of Egypt, and to his ambitious schemes of foreign 
conquest and domestic reform (pp. 66, 68-9). Shortly after his 
abdication in 1848 a French engineer, M. de Lesseps, revived 
the often-discussed plan of cutting a canal through the Isthmus 
of Suez. In spite of all difficulties, work was begun in 1859, 
and ten years later the canal was opened for traffic. 

At this time the ruler of Egypt was Mehemet Ali's grandson, 
Ismail Pasha, who had ascended the throne in 1863. Ismail 
had a genius for spending money, and enjoyed opportunities 
which have fallen to no other spendthrift. His fondness for 
building palaces and laying out gardens, his imposition of 
crushing taxation, and his acquisition of nearly 900,000 acres 
of land from his subjects would not distinguish him from 
other Eastern despots. But Ismail combined Oriental with 
European methods. He sank money in all kinds of schemes 
for developing the country, many of which would have been 
quite sound if they had been carried out with honesty and skill. 
He made the fortune of many a contractor. He seemed posi- 
tively to enjoy being swindled. But he was familiar with 
Western methods of acquiring, as well as of spending, money. 
If an author or a newspaper representative visited Egypt, he 
was royally entertained by the Khedive'. When an Egyptian 
loan was floated in France or England, the public remembered the 
glowing descriptions they had read of the fertility of the country 
and the enlightened ideas of its ruler, and subscribed freely. 

1 Ismail had doubled his tribute to the Sultan in return for this title, 
which is the Persian word for " sovereign ". 



270 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

This could not last for ever, and in April 1876 Ismail was 
forced to suspend payment of treasury bills. In 13 years he 
had raised the Debt from about ;^3, 300,000 toover;^9o,ooo,ooo. 
In May he established an international commission — the Caisse 
de la Dette — to receive the interest on the Debt. Ismail had 
acted as his own Finance Minister, and had made no distinction 
between his own expenditure and that of the state ; consequently 
the accounts were in hopeless disorder. Under these circum- 
stances he reluctantly submitted to the Dual Control of his 
finances by an English official, who supervised the revenue, 
and a French official, who supervised the expenditure. He 
further promised to rule as a constitutional sovereign, acting on 
the advice of responsible ministers. 

Ismail found the restraints of his new position so galling 
that in 1879 he attempted to regain his former despotic powers. 
Bismarck made himself the champion of the bondholders, who 
were alarmed at this coup d'etat, and prevailed on the Sultan 
to depose Ismail in favour of his son, Tewfik. 

These events aroused much discontent in Egypt. The 
army objected to having its numbers reduced on the score of 
economy, when 1,300 foreign officials were employed by the 
Dual Control. Devout Mohammedans, who had long viewed 
European civilisation with mistrust, were shocked to see their 
country given over to Christians. Ambitious Egyptians felt 
that it was time to expel all foreigners — not only Europeans, 
but the Turks, Circassians, Kurds, Armenians, and Syrians 
who had long monopolised the chief offices in the state and 
the higher ranks in the army. An Egyptian colonel named 
Arabi made himself the mouthpiece of the discontent and, with 
the army at his back, forced the Khedive to accept a new 
cabinet, in which he himself was Minister for War (Feb. 1882). 
The movement soon passed beyond Arabi's control and threat- 
ened anarchy. In May a Franco-British fleet anchored off 
Alexandria as a warning to lawless spirits ; but a riot which 
broke out among the Arabs of the city on June nth resulted in 



xvi] EGYPT 271 

the death of 50 Europeans, and caused 14,000 Christians to 
leave the country during the following week. 

Pacific though it was, Gladstone's cabinet felt that, if other 
means failed, force must be used to restore order. Failing to 
secure the co-operation of France, Great Britain determined to 
act alone. On Arabi's refusal to stop work on the sea defences 
of Alexandria, the British fleet silenced the forts (July nth). 
But the Egyptian army remained to be dealt with, and, as 
France still refused to join, troops were summoned from 
England and India. Landing at Ismailia, Sir Garnet Wolseley 
easily defeated Arabi at Tel-el-Kebir (Sept. 13th), and the rising 
collapsed. 

What was to be the next step ? The subsequent history of 
Egypt would have been considerably simplified if Great Britain 
could have immediately proclaimed a protectorate. But such 
a course would have been a breach of faith, and would have 
caused a serious quarrel with France. Nor was Gladstone 
anxious to add to British responsibilities. He was perfectly 
sincere in announcing that the British troops would be with- 
drawn as soon as the authority of the Khedive had been 
restored. Where he erred was in supposing that the time would 
soon come when Egypt might safely be left to herself. The 
initial success of the Arabist rising had been due, not to any 
strength or ability shown by its leaders, but to the incapacity 
and corruption of the Egyptian Government. The mere re- 
storation of that Government, whose rottenness had been 
clearly revealed, would be useless : stability could not be 
secured without reforms, which could be introduced only by 
Europeans. 

It is doubtful whether these considerations would have in- 
duced the Liberal Government to prolong the British Occupation 
of Egypt, had not events in the Sudan made evacuation 
impossible. Since 18 19, when it was conquered by Mehemet 
Ah, the Sudan had been a dependency of Egypt. From 1877 
to 1879 it was administered by Colonel Charles Gordon, who 



272 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

had previously served under the Chinese Government, and 
had been mainly instrumental in crushing the Taiping Rebellion 
in 1863. As Governor of the Sudan Gordon did his utmost to 
suppress the slave trade and to do justice ; but on his retirement 
the country relapsed into anarchy. The Sudanese longed for 
deliverance from the Egyptian officials, who were incompetent, 
avaricious, and tyrannical. When in August 1881 Mohammed 
Ahmed, a native of Dongola, proclaimed himself the Mahdi, 
or " guide ", the Sudanese eagerly obeyed his call to arms. 

The Khedive, who had neither the men nor the money for 
a campaign, nevertheless resolved to send an expedition against 
the Mahdi. The British Government, which should have forced 
him to " cut his losses " and to concentrate all his energies on 
Egypt, studiously refrained from bringing pressure to bear on 
him, imagining that it could disclaim all responsibility for the 
Sudan. Accordingly 12,000 worthless Egyptian troops under 
Hicks Pasha were sent into the heart of the Sudan, only to be 
cut to pieces by the Dervishes near El Obeid (Nov. 5th, 1883). 

In Sept. 1883, Sir Evelyn Baring had arrived in Egypt as 
British Agent and Consul-General. Realising that it was 
impossible at the same time to reform Egypt and to reconquer 
the Sudan, he induced the British Government to insist on the 
evacuation of the Sudan, and to promise to send a mission to 
withdraw the garrisons. The task was finally entrusted to 
Gordon, who was forced on the cabinet by a newspaper agita- 
tion, after he had twice been refused by Baring. No worse 
choice could have been made. " Gordon was a hero, and a 
hero of heroes"; wrote Gladstone in 1890, "but we ought to 
have known that a hero of heroes is not the proper person to 
give effect at a distant point, and in most difficult circumstances, 
to the views of ordinary men." Gordon's temperament made 
him the last man to carry out a policy of retirement : he 
attached great importance to intuition, while the problem be- 
fore him demanded calm, dispassionate judgment. Soon after 
reaching Khartum (Feb. 1884) he began to ask for reinforcements 



xvi] EGYPT 273 

with which to smash the Mahdi. Aghast at this change of 
policy, the cabinet took a long time to realise that a force 
would have to be sent, not to smash the Mahdi, but to relieve 
Gordon, who could not have retreated, even if he had wished, 
after the Dervish capture of Berber in May. In spite of the 
remonstrances of the Queen, delay followed delay, and it was 
not until September that Lord Wolseley was sent out. On 
Jan. 28th, 1885, his advance-guard came in sight of Khartum, 
only to find that it had fallen two days earlier, that Gordon had 
perished, and that the garrison had been massacred. 

The tragedy of Khartum at least removed one of Baring's 
preoccupations and allowed him to devote his whole attention 
to Egypt. Even had he been given a free hand, his task would 
not have been easy. The ruling classes stood to lose by the 
introduction of Western ideas of justice and honesty. The 
mass of the population were too ignorant to appreciate the 
efforts made on their behalf, and were separated from the 
British by the barriers of race and religion. Still, such difficulties 
would not have appeared insurmountable to administrators who 
had been trained in India, had not their hands been tied by a 
political system of appalling complexity. 

Egypt was legally part of the Ottoman Empire ; its natives 
were Ottoman subjects ; the Khedive was the representative of 
the Sultan, and might not enter into relations with other 
countries on his own account. Though the Sultan had long 
ceased to exercise any real control over Egypt, he found many 
opportunities of showing his dislike of the British occupation 
by diplomatic means. In this policy of obstruction he could 
always count on the support of France. Before the British 
occupation, French influence was supreme in Egypt : the 
administration was organised on French lines; the procedure 
of the courts was based on the Code Napoleon ; the French 
language was used in official correspondence. For the next 
twenty years France did her best to thwart British policy in all 
parts of the world. Diplomacy, however, was not her only 



2 74 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

weapon; in Egyptian affairs she could interfere directly. As 
part of the Ottoman dominions, Egypt was bound by the 
"Capitulations", or privileges conferred by the Sultan upon 
the subjects of fourteen Christian states. These privileges were 
of the most ample character. A resident in Egypt who was the 
citizen of one of these states was exempt from taxation (except 
the land tax and customs dues); his premises could not be 
entered by the police unless his consul were present; if he 
were accused of any crime, he was tried by his consul according 
to the laws of his own country. Before the Egyptian Govern- 
ment could promulgate a law affecting foreigners, it had to 
obtain the assent of each of the fourteen states — a process 
which was at best slow, and which was usually impossible. 
When it is further remembered that, besides the Caisse, there 
were other international institutions which contained French 
representatives, it will be seen that France had many oppor- 
tunities of hindering the work of British officials in Egypt. 

In fact, the whole position of the British was anomalous. 
Sir Evelyn Baring himself, as British Agent and Consul- 
General, was nominally on a level with the representatives of 
other countries. He might give the Khedive the benefit of his 
advice ; but the Khedive had promised to rule as a constitutional 
king and to take the advice of his Cabinet, which was purely 
Egyptian. Very similar was the position of the other Englishmen 
who helped to set Egypt on her feet : the chief of them were 
Under-Secretaries or "Advisers", and were officially subordinate 
to Egyptian ministers. It was not enough that they should be 
efficient administrators ; they needed unbounded tact : each had 
to conduct his own diplomacy ; it was impossible to appeal to 
the British Foreign Office whenever a hitch occurred. Again, 
Egypt was still on the verge of bankruptcy, and could not 
afford any reforms which meant an increase of expenditure. 
Finally, circumstances might arise at any moment which would 
induce Great Britain to carry out her declared intention of with- 
drawing from the country. 



xvi] EGYPT 275 

The crux of the whole matter was finance. If, as seemed 
certain, Egypt became insolvent, British guidance would be 
replaced by international control, and she would become the 
battle-ground of the jealousies and rivalries of Europe. This 
fate was avoided only after a prolonged struggle, the issue of 
which was often in doubt. The burden of taxation could not be 
reduced or adjusted more equitably. Half the revenue went to 
pay the interest on the Debt. Money could not be spared for 
the most pressing reforms. It was not until 1888 that the 
danger of bankruptcy was over. From that time the financial 
condition of Egypt has steadily and rapidly improved. (The 
revenue doubled between 1883 and 19 14.) 

Baring made two exceptions to his rule that reforms must 
be postponed until the finances were absolutely stable : the 
danger from the Sudan made it imperative to reform the army 
(or rather to create a new one), and the peculiar geographical 
conditions of Egypt made it essential to put in order and extend 
the irrigation works. 

In the time of Arabi the Egyptian army was thoroughly in- 
efficient and unpopular. Villagers used to mutilate themselves 
to avoid conscription, and the troops were treated as slaves. 
Ill-clothed and ill-fed, they had all self-respect knocked out of 
them by their officers. In the campaigns against the Mahdi 
(to which they had to be taken in chains) they frequently threw 
away their weapons and allowed themselves to be butchered 
without resistance. Sir Evelyn Wood, the first English Sirdar, 
changed all this and made the Egyptian army a contented, 
steady, well-disciplined force, to which the defence of Wadi 
Haifa and Suakin against the Dervishes was safely entrusted. 

It was essential to reform the irrigation system at once for 
two reasons. In the first place, irrigation was essential and 
had been employed in Egypt for thousands of years : the only 
choice lay between good and bad methods. Secondly, judicious 
expenditure on irrigation works would not only add to the 
general prosperity, but would directly benefit the Exchequer 



276 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

by diminishing the remissions of taxation claimed by landholders 
whose crops had failed owing to insufficient water. Accordingly 
the Barrage below Cairo was at once repaired. The work ac- 
complished by British engineers since those days forms perhaps 
the most interesting and not the least important chapter in 
recent Egyptian history. It is the one consequence of British 
rule which is thoroughly appreciated by the fellaheen. 

When, in the early nineties, it became clear that the financial 
crisis was over. Baring (who was made Earl of Cromer in 1891) 
felt safe in attacking other abuses, and in particular those which 
had long existed in the administration of justice. The appoint- 
ment of an English Judicial Adviser in 1891, however, was 
resented by those Egyptians whose authority was threatened. 
They received support from an unexpected quarter. On Jan. 7th, 
1892, Tewfik died, and was succeeded by his son. Abbas II, 
a youth of barely 18, who had been educated at Vienna. Tewfik, 
though not a man of great ability, had possessed qualities 
which enabled him to play the part of constitutional king with 
remarkable success, and had learnt to work harmoniously with 
Cromer. Abbas regarded his father's career with contempt, 
and determined to regain the despotic powers of his grandfather, 
Ismail. Cromer allowed a series of affronts to pass almost un- 
noticed, until in Jan. 1894 the young Khedive publicly insulted 
the Sirdar, Sir Herbert Kitchener, at Wadi Haifa. This act of 
folly produced a strongly-worded remonstrance from Lord 
Rosebery, who was then Foreign Secretary; Abbas was com- 
pelled to issue an order of the day complimenting Kitchener 
on the efficiency of the army, and after this lesson he confined 
himself to secret intrigue. 

Now that the financial danger was past, the reconquest of 
the Sudan became possible. Under the bloodthirsty rule of the 
Khahfa Abdullah (who succeeded the Mahdi in 1885) its 
population had been reduced from some 8,500,000 to less than 
2,000,000. France was known to entertain schemes for reaching 
the Upper Nile from the Upper Congo. Egypt could not feel 



xvi] EGYPT 277 

secure, from an economic or a military standpoint, until she 
controlled the whole of the Nile valley. 

In 1896 Kitchener began the reconquest, which was virtually 
completed in 1898, when the Anglo-Egyptian army inflicted a 
crushing defeat on the Khalifa's forces at Omdurman. As Great 
Britain and Egypt had shared the expenses of the expedition, 
the Sudan was placed under the joint sovereignty of the Queen 
and the Khedive. The administrative difficulties are great. The 
Sudan is a "grim country of flies and mosquitoes and whirl-winds 
and ants and dust and heat and rain." Its natives have few 
wants, which are easily satisfied, so that they are disinclined to 
work. On the other hand they regard their new rulers as 
deliverers from oppression : there is no "Nationalist" party. 

The status given to the Sudan in 1899 made it obvious 
that Great Britain did not intend to evacuate Egypt in the near 
future. Unless France were prepared for war, she must reconcile 
herself to facts. Nor could it be denied that the French subjects 
in Egypt had shared in the general prosperity, and that they 
would suffer if Egypt were left to herself. Moreover, the hostile 
attitude which France had maintained had harmed her as much 
as Great Britain, and had played into the hands of Germany, 
who rejoiced to see them estranged. France was now anxious 
for diplomatic support to quell the disorder in Morocco, 
which threatened to spread to her colony of Algeria. After the 
South African War, Great Britain was equally desirous of 
coming to terms. Hence in 1904 an agreement was signed by 
which France, on consideration of being given a free hand in 
Morocco, undertook not to obstruct the action of Great Britain 
in Egypt in any manner whatsoever. The other Great Powers 
subsequently recognised our position in Egypt. The Caisse 
lost its administrative functions, and all other financial restric- 
tions were removed. 

In ceasing to be international, the Egyptian Question, 
though simplified, did not cease to exist : it became purely 
internal. The Nationalist Party declared that Egypt was now 



2 78 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. xvi 

quite capable of managing her own afifairs, without interference 
from Great Britain. Lord Cromer (who resigned in 1907) did 
not share this view. While sympathising with the ideal of self- 
government for Egypt, he held that a considerable time must 
elapse before that ideal could safely be put into practice. There 
can be no doubt that he was perfectly right. Left to themselves, 
the Egyptians had allowed the French hospitals and irrigation 
works established in the time of Mehemet Ali to become 
absolutely useless. Even after the British occupation, those 
departments of the administration which were left entirely in 
Egyptian hands failed to catch the reforming spirit. In 1891 
Mr John Scott found that the courbash, a long whip of hippo- 
potamus hide, was still used to extort confessions from accused 
persons, that witnesses were imprisoned as a matter of course, 
so that they should not escape before they were required to give 
evidence, that the prisons were squalid and insanitary, and that 
the judges were ignorant and corrupt. It is hardly too much to say 
that all the good which has been done in Egypt in the last genera- 
tion has been accompUshed, not only under British guidance, but 
under British pressure. Politically, Egypt is still in her infancy. 
The vast majority of Egyptians accept the material benefits 
conferred on them without bothering their heads about politics. 
A striking proof of this was the quiet manner in which they 
accepted the deposition of Abbas II in December 19 14. 
Abbas had thought to find in the Great War an opportunity of 
reaUsing his ambitions, and had openly declared for Germany, 
the friend of absolutism. Great Britain had no option but to 
dethrone him in favour of Hussein Kamel Pasha, the second 
son of Ismail. The new ruler was given the title of Sultan, for 
the opportunity was taken to throw off Turkish suzerainty and 
to declare a British protectorate. In itself the change was 
merely formal. From the very beginning the British occupation 
of Egypt had been "a veiled protectorate ", and after the Anglo- 
French agreement of 1904 the veil was too thin to be taken 
seriously even by diplomatists. 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE BRITISH EMPIRE : CONCLUSION 

We left our account of the relations between Great Britain 
and the self-governing colonies at a period when laissez faire 
principles were triumphant. From the passing of the Reform 
Bill until the last years of the century the dominant political 
philosophy was strongly individualistic, deprecating state action, 
except for the removal of restrictions, and demanding full play 
for "natural" forces in political and economic life. In its 
imperial aspect laissez faire did much good by giving the 
colonies freedom to develop along their own lines. On the 
other hand, by discouraging enthusiasm and exalting en- 
lightened self-interest into a virtue it checked the growth of 
imperial patriotism. 

Before the end of the century men began to feel that 
individualism had gone too far, that it was an extreme statement 
of a single aspect of the truth. Biologists showed that Nature 
was careless of the individual, or cared for the individual only 
for the sake of the race. Political scientists laid stress on the 
organic nature of the state. Anthropologists insisted that man 
was a social animal. Physicians emphasised the importance of 
public health. Practical statesmen found themselves more and 
more obliged to restrain the liberty of the individual in the 
interests of the community. In such a mental atmosphere an 
atomistic conception of. Empire could not thrive, and concrete 
facts were against it. 

In the first place, the problem of holding an empire together 
had been considerably modified by the improvement in the 
means of communication. In days when the voyage from 
England to Australia took eight months, it might be argued 



28o THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

that all attempts to maintain the connection between the two 
countries were foredoomed to failure. To-day we live in a 
smaller world. Railways, steamships and telegraphs form both 
the nervous system and the arteries of Empire, making 
possible the rapid interchange of news and ideas as well as 
goods. The component parts of the Empire have been brought 
nearer to each other in time and spaced 

Then there is the bond of trade. The adoption of Free 
Trade by Great Britain and the grant of fiscal independence to 
the colonies did not have the disastrous results which were 
anticipated. At the end of the century, more than one-fifth of 
British imports came from the colonies, and more than one-third 
of British exports were sent thither. Just less than half the 
external trade of the colonies was with the mother country, and 
much of the rest was inter-colonial. Great Britain is the 
banking and financial centre of the Empire, providing the 
capital necessary for its development. While it would be a 
mistake to exaggerate the importance of these economic ties, 
they must be reckoned among the factors making for unity. 
Statesmen of a century ago regarded the Empire as a trading 
asset ; those of the present day regard trade as an imperial 
bond. 

It has often been pointed out that the remarkable material 
progress made by Great Britain in the last century and a half 
rests upon insecure foundations, that it is dependent, for instance, 
upon coal deposits which are not inexhaustible, and that it has 
been purchased at the sacrifice of the balance between town 
and country. But the outlook becomes less gloomy if one takes 
a wider view. The resources of the Empire have as yet hardly 
been surveyed, much less developed. Its mineral wealth has 
only been touched ; its agricultural possibilities are almost 
boundless; it produces the raw materials used in every industry; 

^ One may notice the probable effects of aviation, e.g. in facilitating 
Imperial Conferences, in border warfare (cf. the Afghan Campaign of 
1919), etc. 



xvii] CONCLUSION 281 

it needs only the men and the capital, both of which can be 
supplied by Great Britain. The idea has steadily gained ground 
that the Empire can be made self-sufficing. Such a view of 
Empire is not mercenary or ignoble : civilisation has its material 
side ; man is engaged in a never-ending struggle with Nature 
to force her to supply his physical needs ; the community, like 
the individual, must reach a certain standard of prosperity 
before it can afford the leisure for higher than material things. 

There were also forces outside the Empire which helped to 
make it conscious of its unity. The spread of the Industrial 
Revolution aroused the countries of Europe to the desirability 
of colonies as outlets for their surplus population, as markets 
for their manufactures, as sources of raw material, and as a field 
for the investment of capital. After 1878 there was peace on 
the Continent, and it was after that date that Africa, the islands 
of the Pacific, and other unappropriated portions of the world 
were divided among the Powers. Thanks, however, to her 
start. Great Britain had already annexed the lands which were 
best adapted to European colonisation. The jealousy felt by 
her new rivals helped to create a realisation of the common 
interests and common responsibilities of the Empire. External 
pressure tended towards consolidation. In particular, once 
the question of defence was seriously considered, it became 
clear that the existence of the Empire as a whole and the 
security of each of its parts depended on sea-power. Before the 
end of the century British sea-power was challenged. 

The imperial idea was strengthened by altruistic as well as 
by self-regarding motives. While the instinct of self-preservation 
and the desire for material well-being are perfectly natural and 
legitimate in moderation, they mar, when carried to excess, the 
character of a nation as of an individual. We feel nothing but 
contempt for the miser, and we despise the man who thinks of 
his own safety when there are women and children to be saved. 
And yet, though we often deplore the frailty of our nature, such 
men are rare. If unadulterated selfishness is seldom met with 



282 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

in the outside world, it is almost non-existent in family life — 
even Shylock mourns the loss of his daughter more than that 
of his ducats. Now it is no mere figure of speech to call Great 
Britain and her colonies a family circle. Even in the middle of 
the nineteenth century many statesmen of both parties, who 
could find no logical answer to the arguments of the Manchester 
School, clung to their belief that there was a better fate in store 
for the Empire than peaceful dissolution. Since that time we 
have learnt that logic is an unsafe guide in human affairs, that 
sentiment and tradition still have power to stir men's blood and 
shape their actions. There is, of course, the danger of 
sentimentality, or of a pride in the size of the Empire rather 
than in its greatness. It is easy to degrade Imperialism by making 
it the subject of music-hall songs or electioneering speeches. 
But there is a pride in the Empire which is the counterpart of 
individual self-respect, a determination that our future shall not 
be unworthy of our past. The idealism which has played such 
a great part in building up the Empire must be reckoned among 
the forces which tend to keep it together. 

If, then, the Empire was not gradually to break up, what 
was to be its future? The old theory which regarded the 
colonies as dependencies of Great Britain had long ceased to 
fit the facts. The distinction which Lord Durham had at- 
tempted to draw between imperial and local affairs had proved 
impracticable. Rejecting the Roman policy of divide et ivipera^ 
he had urged that the secret of Empire was to build up the 
colonies into nations. But it was impossible to arrest this 
process half-way : to all intents and purposes Great Britain and 
her self-governing colonies had become a league or alliance of 
free nations, with the Crown as the only constitutional link 
between them. Without minimising the importance of loyalty 
to the Sovereign, was it not desirable to reinforce it by other 
means ? 

A proposal which received much support in the colonies 
was the establishment of preferential customs duties within the 



xvii] CONCLUSION 283 

Empire. Canada's example in admitting British manufactures 
at a lower rate than those of other countries has been followed 
by the other self-governing colonies ; but up to the present 
Great Britain has refused to abandon her policy of strict Free 
Trade'. Without discussing the wisdom of this refusal, it may 
be noticed that Imperial Preference does not mean Free Trade 
within the Empire. The colonies are firm believers in the 
protective systems under which their industries have grown, and 
are afraid that these industries would soon disappear if exposed 
to the unrestricted competition of British manufacturers. 

Another scheme which has been widely discussed during 
the past half century is that of Imperial Federation. The 
success of the federal principle as applied to British de- 
pendencies, as well as colonies, has suggested its extension to 
the Empire as a whole. It is proposed that Great Britain and 
the self-governing colonies should send representatives to an 
Imperial Parliament, which should discuss questions of common 
interest, such as defence and foreign relations, and to which an 
Imperial Ministry should be responsible. At present, it is urged, 
the ministers who advise the King on such matters are 
responsible solely to the British Parliament, which has more 
business than it can deal with, and which has neither the time 
nor the expert knowledge for proper discussion of Imperial affairs. 

The opponents of this scheme emphasise, in the first place, 
the difficulty of constituting such a Parliament. Australia, for 
instance, already has seven Parliaments, and could not easily 
find men of leisure and ability to represent her in another, 
which would meet at the other side of the world, and whose 
powers, though important, would lie within a very narrow 
compass. The second objection is that, while federation means 
the grouping together (not the complete fusion or amalgamation) 
of units for certain definite purposes, the colonies themselves 
have not yet completed their internal unification. There are in 

^ In the Budget of 19 19 Mr Austen Chamberlain gave colonial a slight 
preference over foreign products. 



284 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

Canada some three million people who do not ordinarily speak 
English at home. "We have within our bounds," writes a 
Canadian, "a strange medley of races. By the exercise of 
generosity, intelligence, and care it is not beyond our power to 
transform these incomers into good Canadians, but it is beyond 
the power of any human agency to make them Britons." This 
quotation brings us to what is at present the most serious 
obstacle to Imperial Federation, the fact that it has hitherto 
been advocated almost entirely by Englishmen at home, and 
has been regarded with suspicion by the colonies. They are 
afraid that their rights of self-government would be endangered 
if they sent members to a Parliament which might commit 
them to a foreign policy of which they disapproved. If this 
Parliament were elected in proportion to population, the 
representatives of Great Britain would be twice as numerous as 
those of- the self-governing colonies put together. Colonial 
opinion thus condemns the idea as premature until time has 
altered the balance of population. 

Though, as far as one can see, the immediate future will 
not witness the accomplishment of Imperial Preference or 
Imperial Federation, their supporters have done good work by 
educating the public to "think imperially". On the question of 
an imperial constitution two observations of a general character 
may be made. In the first place, some advocates of Imperial 
Federation try to gain support for their scheme by warning us 
that the only alternative is disaster. While, however, we may 
admit that on paper the present constitution of the Empire 
looks absurd, we should remember that the political genius of 
our race is averse from cut-and-dried political systems, and 
shows itself most clearly in securing good results from institu- 
tions which are theoretically unworkable. Lord Cromer himself 
found it difficult to define his exact functions, but in spite of 
the anomalies and inconsistencies of his position, he contrived 
to give Egypt good government. Other nations are fond of 
drawing up paper constitutions which satisfy all the tests of 



xvii] CONCLUSION 285 

political scientists ; we care nothing for logic, provided we can 
make our political machine work. Judged by this practical 
test, the present constitution of the Empire is a success in spite 
of its complete absence of design : solvitur ambulando. 

Secondly, we should not go to the other extreme and make 
a virtue of our lack of system. The strongest force tending to 
keep the Empire together is the desire of its members to remain 
within it, and without this force the finest political machinery 
ever devised would fail. On the other hand, natural forces are 
most useful to man when he has learnt to control them. 
Nature supplies the river, but man builds the canals : without 
the river, irrigation works would be useless; without the 
irrigation works, most of the water would be wasted. The 
constructive statesman does not create forces so much as guide 
existing forces into profitable channels. Among the many 
problems of Empire there are two in particular which demand 
imperial treatment. 

First, there is the administration of those portions of the 
Empire which are not ready for self-government. While improved 
means of communication have simplified many of the difficulties 
of the "sphere of settlement", they have intensified those of the 
" sphere of rule ", and have accentuated the difference between 
the two categories by breaking down the physical barriers 
between them. The colour problem has become urgent. Until 
the age of steamships the coloured races of the Empire had 
neither the wish nor the means to emigrate. They have since 
been encouraged to work in certain colonies and dependencies, 
usually for a term of years ; but have been excluded from 
others. Improved communication has made it easier for the 
East and the West to acquire a first-hand knowledge of each 
other, much of which is still of so imperfect and superficial a 
nature as to be more dangerous than ignorance itself. In dealing 
with these modern problems we need to pool the resources of 
the Empire, to make use of the valuable experience the colonies 
have gained in their relations with backward races. 



286 THE BRITISH EMPIRE [ch. 

The other sphere in which co-ordination is urgently needed 
is diplomacy. At present the diplomatic service is recruited 
entirely from Great Britain and its chief is responsible solely to 
the British Parliament. There is no permanent machinery for 
consulting the colonies on matters of foreign policy in which 
they are vitally interested. 

We do possess, however, extraordinary machinery which 
may prove to be the germ of an imperial constitution. The 
Conference of colonial premiers which met in London in 1887 
proved so successful that it was followed by others, which have 
met of late at intervals of four years. The last Imperial 
Conference, held in 191 7, resolved that a special conference 
should meet after the war to draft a constitution which should 
effectively arrange for "continuous consultation in all important 
matters of common Imperial concern, and for such necessary 
concerted action, founded on consultation, as the several 
Governments may determine." Without attempting to fore- 
shadow the exact form this constitution will take, we may notice 
that the language of the resolution seems to exclude the 
establishment of an Imperial Legislature and to contemplate 
the extension of the existing principle, that the autonomous 
portions of the Empire should be represented by their 
Executive Governments. 



Looking back on the period we have covered, we see two 
main lines of progress, internal and external. The 19th century 
saw an increase of democracy, of personal liberty, and of social 
well-being at home, and the extension of British rule over a 
large part of the globe. It is roughly true to say that the Liberal 
Party laid most emphasis on the first tendency, the Conservative 
on the second. German aggression threatened both, with the 
result that the two great parties presented a united front on the 
outbreak of war. Nor was the Empire less conscious of the 
danger. It has been said above that the self-governing colonies 



xvii] CONCLUSION 287 

are developing into nations which desire to work out their own 
destinies. This conception of an Empire permeated by a 
civilisation essentially the same, but manifesting itself in 
different ways, was entirely opposed to the Prussian ideal, which 
demanded external uniformity, not spiritual unity, and which 
regarded culture as something to be forcibly imposed on inferior 
races. Even more remarkable than the contingents from the 
self-governing colonies has been the assistance in men, in money, 
and in kind from the native chiefs of Crown colonies. The 
unity of the Empire in the face of common danger is a tribute 
to the men who have made it what it is. A comparison between 
the Empire of to-day and the Empire of a century ago 
encourages the belief that the difficulties of the present can be 
surmounted. The German belief in British "decadence", and 
the fears of Englishmen that there might be some truth in the 
charge, have been proved groundless. In the short breathing- 
space between the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 
Wordsworth wrote: — 

When I have borne in memory what has tamed 

Great Nations, how ennobling thoughts depart 

When Men change Swords for Ledgers, and desert 

The Student's bower for gold, some fears unnamed 

I had, my Country ! am I to be blamed.? 

But when I think of Thee, and what Thou art. 

Verily, in the bottom of my heart. 

Of those unfilial fears I am ashamed. 

But dearly must we prize thee ; we who find 

In thee a bulwark of the cause of men ; 

And 1 by my affection was beguiled. 

What wonder, if a Poet, now and then, 

Among the many movements of his mind. 

Felt for thee as a Lover or a Child ! 



INDEX 



Abbas II, 276, 278 

Abdurrahman, 262 

Aberdeen, Lord, 46, 70, 72-5 

Act of Settlement, 30 

Act of Union (with Ireland), 6, 93 

Adams, C. F., 85 

Adelaide, 227, 232 

Adrianople, 114 

" Adullamites," 90 

Afghanistan, 140, 248-9, 258, 262 

Africa, 132, 213-214; South, Chap. 

XII; Union of South, 222-223 
Afrikander Bond, 214 
Agrarian Revolution, 11, 12, 21 
Alabaina, 85, 108-9, 200 
Alaska, 199-200 
Albany, 204 
Albert, Prince of Saxe-Coburg- 

Gotha, 34, 84-85 
Alberta, 200 
Alexander I, Tsar, 63-66; II, Tsar, 

76 
Alexandra, Queen, 88 
Alexandria, 270-1 
Algeria, 277 
Alma, 74 

Alsace-Lorraine, 107 
American Independence, War of, 

176, 181, 225 
American War ofi8i2, 183 
Anti-Corn Law League, 36, 40 
Arabi Pasha, 270-271 
"Archaean Horse-shoe," 180, 196 
Argentine, 66 
Armenia, 136 
Ashburton Treaty, 191 
Ashley, Lord, 52-4 
Asylums, 54 
Auckland, 239 
Auckland, Lord, 248-9 
Aurangzeb, 244, 245 



Australia, Chap. XIII ; Common- 
wealth of, 223, 233-6; "Felix," 
227 

Austria, 62, 68-70, 71, 73, 80-82, 
88, 91-2, 107, 112, 115 

Austro-Prussian War (1866), 91-2 

Bagdad Railway, 136 

Balaclava, 75 

Balfour, A. J., 118, 129-131, 140-2 

Balfour, G. W., 135 

Ballarat, 228 

Ballot Act, 106 

Bank Charter Act, 39 

Bank of England, 14, 17, 39 

Baring, see Cromer 

Bashi-Bazouks, 11 2-1 13 

Batak, 112 

Bathurst, 226, 228 

Bay of Islands, 237, 238 

Beaconsfield, Earl of, see Disraeli 

Bechuanaland, 213, 215 

Belgium, 62, 67-8, 106-7 

Bendigo, 232 

Berber, 273 

Berlin, Congress of ( 1 878), 115 

Besika Bay, 112 

Bessarabia, 115 

Bessemer, 143 

Bethnal Green, 49 

Bismarck, 87-8, 91-3, 106, 138, 270 

Bithur, 256 

Bloemfontein, 217, 220, 222 

Blue Mountains, 226 

Board of Control, 24S 

Boer War, TSt, 211-212; 2nd, 137-8, 

217-221 
Boers, 204 sqq. 

Bosnia-Herzegovina, 112, 113, 115 
Bosphorus, 69 
Botany Bay, 225, 226 



INDEX 



289 



Botha, L., 221 (footnote) 

Boycott, Capt., 120 (footnote) 

Bradlaugh, C. , 118, 146 

Brazil, 144-5 

Bridgewater, Duke of, 8 

Bright, John, 36-7, 39-40, 80, 84, 90, 

91, 104, 124, 126-7 
Brindley, J., 8 
Brisbane, 227, 230 
British Cohimbia, 196-7 
British East Africa, 214 
British Guiana, 136 
British North America Act (1867), 

195 
British South Africa Co., 214-5 
Brown, George, 193 
Brydon, Dr, 249 
Bulgaria, 11 2-1 15 
Buller, Sir R., 220 
Burke, T. H., 122 
Burma, 261 
Burns, John, 161 
Bushmen, 204 
Bute, 22 
Butt, I., 119, 120 

Caisse de la Dette, 270, 274, 277 
Cambridge University, 105, 154 
Cameroons, 214 
Campbell, Sir Colin, 259 
Campbell-Bannerman, Sir Hy, 135, 

142, 223 
Canada, 102, no, 176, Chap. XI ; 

Federation of, 188, 194 
Canadian Northern Railway, 200-1 
Canadian Pacific Railway, 197-8, 

201 
Canning, Geo., 16, 18, 19, 65-7 
Canning, Lord, 254-259 
Canton, 69 
Cape Colony, 176, 203-4, 208-9, 

215, 217, 219, 220, 222 
Capitulations, 274 
Card well, 105 

Carnarvon, Lord, 123-4, 209 
Castlereagh, Lord, 15, 16, 18, 63, 65 
Catholic Association, 20, 95 
Catholic Emancipation, 93-6 
Cavendish, Lord F., 122 
Cavour, 76, 81-2 

H. 



Cawnpore, 256-7, 259 

Cetewayo, 209-211 

Ceylon, 176 

Chad wick, Edwin, 53 

Chamberlain, Joseph, 116, 118, 124, 

126-7, 1.36-7, 140-2, 217-8 
Chamberlain, Neville, 258 
Chapatis, 254 

Charles X of France, 20, 67 
Chartism, 35, 37, 44 
Cheltenham, 155 
Cherbourg, 83 
Chili, (id 
Chilianwala, 250 
China, 69, 78 
Cholesbury, 29 

Churchill, Lord R., 118,123, 127,128 
Civil War, American, 84-7, 194 
Clergy Reserves, 184, 192 
Clive, 244 
Clontarf, 98 

Cobden, Richard, 36-7, 39-40, 83 
Codrington, Admiral, 66-7 
Colley, Sir G. P., 212 
Combination Act, 19, 159 
Conolly, Dr, 54 
Constantinople, 113 
Cook, Capt., 225, 237 
Corn Laws, 15-16, 36-7 ; repeal of, 

39-42, 3 00, 190 
County Councils, 148-149 
County Courts, 55 
Crimean War, 72-7, 87 
Cromer, Lord, 272 sqq. 
Cronje, P. A., 220 
Cumberland, Duke of, 33 
Cunningham, A., 227 
Cyprus, 115 

Dalhousie, Lord, 250-255 
Damaraland, 213 
Dampier, 225 
Danish War (1864), 88 
Dardanelles, 69 

Darling Downs, 227 ; River, 227 
Darwin, Charles, 168 
Davis, Jefferson, 84 
Delagoa Bay, 222 

Delhi, III, 246, 251, 254, 256, 
258-9, 260 

19 



290 



INDEX 



Denmark, 62, 87-8 

Derby, 14th Earl of, 45-6, 75, 79, 

83, 91-2; 15th Earl of, 113, 115 
Devon Commission, 99 
Devonshire, Duke of, 113, ir7j 

126-8 
Diemen, A. van, 224 
Dingaan, 207-208 
Disraeli, Benjamin, 40-1, 45-7, 

78-9, 91-2, 103-4, 109-117 
Divorce Laws, 147 
Dobrudja, The, 115 
Dominion of Canada, Constitution 

of, 194-5 
Dost Mohammad, 248-250, 258 
Drummond, Thos., 97 
Dual Control, 270 
Dunwich, 21 
Dupleix, 244 
Durban, 208, 222 
D'Urban, Sir B., 206-7 
Durham, Lord, 186-189, 198, 238, 



East India Co., 244 sqq. 

Education, 150-5, 171 

Edward VII, 88, no, in, 133,138, 

139, 140 
Edwardes, H., 258 
Egyptj 73. II i> 139' Chap. XVI 
Elgin, Lord, 189-190 
El Obeid, 272 
Elphinstone, 249 
Endeavour, 11 f^ 
Enfield rifle, 253 
Entente cordiale, 1 39 
Eugenics, 166 
Eureka Stockade, 229 
Eyre, E. J., 227 

Factory Acts, 53, 158 

" Family Compact," 183-4 

Famine, in Ireland, 40, 93, roo-ror; 

in India, 263 
Fenians, 92, 102, 120, 194 
Ferdinand VII of Spain, 65 
Fiji, 233 

Filibusters, 210, 213 
Pirozshahr, 250 
Fitzroy, Capt., 240 



Forster, W. E., 105, 122, 152 

"Fourth Party," n8 

France, 66, 67, 68, 69, 71-9, 81-3, 

88, 106-8, in, 112, 132, 138-140, 

233. 270-1, 273-7 
Franco-Pmssian War, 106-8 
French (Lord), 220 
Frere, Sir H. B. E., 209-210, 213 

(footnote) 

Gallipoli, 73 

Garibaldi, 80-8 r 

Gatacre, Sir W. F., 220 

Genoa, 62, 81 

George III, 6, 12, 14 

George IV, 14, 20 

George, D. Lloyd, 166 

George, Henry, 161 

German East Africa, 214-215 

German Empire, 108, 138-9, 213, 

214, 215, 233, 277 
Ghent, 171 
Gladstone, W. E., 46-7, 79-83, 85, 

90, 92, 102, 103-9, 113' 1 16-123, 

126-8, 130-134, 136, 211-212, 

271 
Glasgow, 49, 148, 171 
Glenelg, Lord, 206 
Gorchakoff, Prince, 107 
Gordon, General, 122-3, 271-3 
Gore-Brown, Colonel, 241 
Gorst, (Sir) John, n8 
Goschen (Viscount), 126-8, 132 
Gough, Sir H. G., 250 _ 
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, 200-1 
Granville, Lord, 106-7 
Great Trek, 207 
Greece, 63-7, 114 
Grey, 2nd Earl, 23-5, 26, 31 
Grey, 3rd Earl, 190 
Grey, Sir George, 240-242 
Griqualand West, 209 
"Guillotine," 129 
Guizot, 70 
Gujarat, 250 
Gwalior, 257, 259, 260 

Hanover, 33 

Harcourt, Sir Wm, 134-5 

Hargreaves, 9 



INDEX 



291 



Hartington, Lord, see Devonshire, 

Duke of 
Hastings, Lord, 246-7 
Hau-Haus, 242 
Havelock, Sir H., 257, 259 
Head, Sir F. B., 185 
Health, Boards of, 53, 157; Public, 

49. 53-4, i57> 170-1 
Heligoland, 176 
Hewitt, General, 254 
Hicks Pasha, 272 
Hill, Rowland, 58 
Hobart, 227 
Hobson, Capt., 239 
Holland, 62, 67-8, 204 
Holy Alliance, 63, 65, 67 
"Holy Places," 72-3 
Home Rule Bill {1886), 126-7; 

{1893) 132 
Home Rule League, 11 8-9 
Hong-Kong, 69 
Hottentots, 204-5 
Hudson Bay Company, 180, 194-6 
Hungary, 70 

Huskisson, W., 18-19, 57 
Hussein Kamel Pasha, 278 

Ibrahim Pasha, 66 

Imperial Conference, 137, 234, 286 

Imperial Federation, 283-4 

India, Chap. XV 

Indian National Congress, 266 

Industrial Revolution, 5, 7-1 1 ; 

effects of, 48 sqq., 143-6, 158, 

17C-1 ; in India, 262 sqq. 
Inglis, Sir J. E. W., 255, 259 
Inkerman, 75 
Ionian Isles, 176 
Ireland, 5, 6, 92, Chap. VI, 104, 

"8-132, 135-6 
Ireland, Church of, 93, 96, 104 
Irish Land, 99, 104-5, 120-122, 124, 

128, 129, 135 
Isandhlwana, 211 
Ismail Pasha, 269, 270 
Ismailia, 271 
Italy, 62, 71, 80-82, 107, 112, 140 

Jackson, Coverley, 255 
Jalalabad, 249 



Jameson, Dr, 138, 216-7 
Janissaries, 67 
Japan, 140, 235 
Jenner, Dr, 54 
Jews, 146 

Johannesburg, 215-7, 222 
Joubert, General, 211-212,221 (foot- 
note) 
Jubilee, Diamond, 137 

Kabul, 248-9, 262 

Kaffirs, 205-7, 210 

Kalahari Desert,. 203 

Kalgoorlie, 232 

Kandahar, 249, 262 

Kennedy, 227 

Kent, Duke of, 33, 52 

Khaibar Pass, 248 

Khalifa, The, 276 

Khartum, 122, 272-3 

Kiel, 88 

" Kilmainham Treaty," 121 

Kimberley, 209, 219, 220 

" King " movement, 241-2 

Kitchener, Lord, 220-r, 276-7 

Klondyke, 199-200 

Koniggratz, 91 

Kosas, 206 

Kruger, President, 138, 215-8 

Ladysmith, 219-220 

Lage, Antonio, 144 

Laing's Nek, 212 

Land Act, Irish (1870), 104-5, i^oj 

(1881), 120-1; (1887), 129 
Land League (1879), 120 
Lapse, Rule of, 251 
Laurier, Sir W., 199 
Lawrence, H., 250, 252, 255 ; J., 

250, 258, 259 
Leichardt, 227 
Lesseps, de, 146, 269 
Lincoln, A., 84-6 
Liverpool, Lord, 14, 19 
Livingstone, D., 214 
Local Government Board, 31, 149, 

^57 
Lombardy, 80-1 
London, 49, 107, 148 
Loubet, President, 139 



292 



INDEX 



Louis Napoleon, see Napoleon III 
Louis Philippe, 67, 69-70 
Lucknow, i^^-^Ji 259 

Macadam, 9 

Macarthur, Capt., 226 

Macaulay, 24, 248 

Macdonald, Jno. A., 191-8, 200 

Mackenzie, Sir A., 196 ; W. L., 185 

Macquarie River, 226-8 

Mafeking, 219 

Magenta, 8r 

Magersfontein, 220 

Mahdi, The, 272-3 

Maine, 191 

Maiwand, 262 

Majuba, 122, 212, 219 

Malta, 115, 164, 176 

"Manchester Martyrs," 92, 102 

Manitoba, 196, 200 

Maori Wars, 241-2 

Maoris, Chap. XIV 

Marathas, 245-7 

Marx, K., 161 

Mashonaland, 215 

Master and Servant, 1 59-1 60 

Matabele, 207 

Matabeleland, 215 

Mauritius, 176 

Maynooth, 40, 98-9 

Mazzini, 80 

Mehemet Ali, 66, 68-9, 269 

Meerut, 254 

Melbourne, 227, 229, 232 

Melbourne, Lord, 31, 33, 34, 97, 

187 
Mercantile System, 175-7 
Methuen, Lord, 220 
Metternich, 63, 71 
Metz, 107 
Mexico, 66, to6 
Midlothian, 116-7, 131, 211 
Milan, 70 

Milner (Lord), 217, 222 
Minto, ist Earl of, 246; 4th Earl of, 

267 
Missionaries, 205-6 
Mitchell, Sir T. L., 227 
Moghul Empire, 244 
Moldavia, 64, 67, 73, 112 



Monroe Doctrine, 65, 136 
Montagu, E. S., 268 
Montenegro, 113-115 
Montreal, 180, 186, 193 
Morley, Lord, 267 
Morocco, 139, 277 
Municipal Corporations Act, 32 
Mutiny, Indian, Causes, 250-254; 
Course, 254-260 

Namaqualand, 213 

Nana Sahib, 256-7 

Naples, 81 

Napoleon I, 7, 61-2, 245 

Napoleon III, 45, 46, 71,72-4, 78-9, 
81-4, 86, 106 

Natal, 207-8, 209, 212, 219, 222 

National Union, 216 

Navarino, 66-7 

Navigation Acts, 18-19, ^9° 

Nelson (N.Z.), 239 

Netherlands, 62 

New Brunswick, 182, 190 (footnote), 
191, 193, 194 

New Caledonia, j-i?(? British Columbia; 
(Pacific), 233 

New Guinea, 233-4 

New Hebrides, 233 

New Lanark, 52 

New South Wales, 56, 225, 228, 229, 
230 

New Zealand, Chap. XIV; Com- 
pany, 238-240 

Newfoundland, 176, 197 

Newport, 35 

Newspapers, 55, 169 

Nice, 82-3 

Nicholas I, Tsar, 52, 66-7, 71, 
72-6 

Nicholson, John, 258-9 

Nigeria, 214 

Nightingale, Florence, 76 

Nizam, The, 245 

Norfolk Island, 56, 229 

North- West Territories, 196 

Northcote, Sir S., 118 

Norway, 62 

Nova Scotia, 180, 182, 193, 194 

O'Connell, Daniel, 20, 34, 94-8 



INDEX 



293 



Omdurman, 277 

Ontario, 194, 201 

" Opium " War, 69 

Orange Free State, 208, 209, 215, 

217, 218, 220-2 
Oregon Boundary, 191 
Origin of Species, 168 
Orsini, 78-9 

Oudh, 251-2, 255-7, 259, 260 
Outram, Sir J., 252, 255, 259 
Owen, Robert, 52 
Oxford University, 105, 154 

Paardeberg, 220 
Palmerston, 232 
Palmerston, Lord, 44-5, 46, 68-74, 

76, 78-9 
Panama, 146 
Panda, 208 
Paris, siege of, 107; Peace of (1763), 

181; Peace of (1856), 77, 107 
Parnell, C. S., 119-125, 128-132 
Peel, Sir R., 16-18, 20, 24, 28, 34, 

37-43, 96, 98 
Peelites, 43, 45, 46 
Persia, 140, 262 
Perth, 227 

Phillip, Capt. A., 226 
Phoenix Park Murders, 122-3, 129 
Piedmont-Sardinia, 62, 71, 76, 80-82 
Pindaris, 247 
Pigott, 130 
Pitt's India Act, 245 
Plague, Bubonic, 265 
" Plan of Campaign," 128-9 
Plevna, 114 
Plimsoll, iir 
Plunkett, Sir H. C, 135 
Poland, 62, 71 
Police, 17-18 
Polignac, 21 
Poor Law, 12, 29-30; Reform, 30- 

31 
Port Jackson, 226 
Port Natal, 208 
Portsmouth, 32 
Post, Penny, 58; Imperial Penny, 

199 
Potatau, 241 
Pretoria, 212, 220, 222 



Prince Edward Island , 1 90 (footnote) , 

193. 197 

Prisons, 18, 55, 147-8 

Prussia, 62, 68, 69, 8(, 82, 106, 

112 
Punjab, 248,250, 251, 258, 263 

Quebec, 180, 183, 194 
Queensland, 227, 230, 234 
Queen's Colleges, 98, 105 

Raglan, Lord, 74 

Ranjit Sing, 248, 250 

Reciprocity Treaty, 190, 192, 194, 

199 
Redmond, J., 135 
Reform Bills (1831), 21-4; (1832), 

25-7; (1867), 90-91; (1884), 

122 
Revel, 140 

Revolution, French, effects of, 61, 64 
Rhodes, Cecil, 214-217 
Rhodesia, 215 
Roads, 9 

Roberts, Lord, 220-1, 262 
Rome, 81, 82 
Rorke's Drift, 211 
Rosebery, Lord, 134-5, 276 
Rumania, j£e Mold avia,and 112, 114, 

"5 
Rumelia, East, 115 
Rupert's Land, j8o 
Russell, Earl (Lord John Russell), 

21, 23, 25, 40, 43-6, 70, 75, 79- 

82, 85-6, 88, 90, 100, 186, 189 
Russell, Sir Charles, 130 
Russia, 62, 64-9, 71, 73-7, 81, 89, 

107, 112-116, 136, 138-140, 199, 

248, 261-2 

Salisbury, Marquis of, 113, 115, 
123-5, 1^8. 131. 133. 134. 136, 
^S7- 140 

Samoa, 234 

San Juan, 199 

San Stephano, 114 

Saskatchewan, 200 

Sati, 248 

Savoy, 82-3 

Schleswdg-Holstein, 87-8, 91 



294 



INDEX 



Scott, J., 278 

Scutari, 75, 76 

Sebastopol, 74-7 

Serbia, 112-115 

" Seven Weeks' War," 91-2 

Shaftesbury, Earl of, 52-4 

Shanghai, 69 

Sheffield, 160 

Shepstone, Sir T., 210-21 1 

Sicily, 81 

Sikhs, see Punjab 

Simpson, Dr, 54 

Sind, 249-250 

Sinn Fein, 136 

Slavery, abolition of, 51, 176, 206 

Smith, Adam, 50, 145,177; Sydney, 

Socialism, 161— 8 

Sobraon, 250 

Solferino, 81 

South African War, see Boer War 

South Australia, 227, 229, 230 

Spain, 65 

Spencer, Lord, 122 

Spinning jenny, 9 

Stephenson, George, 56-7 

Stormberg, 220 

Stratford de Redclifife, Lord, 73 

Sturt, 227 

Suakin, 275 

Sudan, 271-3, 276-7 

Suez Canal, iii, 208, 269 

Sutlej, 250, 253 

Swan River, 227 

Svi^eden, 62 

Sydney, 226, 227, 229 

"TaffVale" decision, 160 (foot- 
note) 
Tahiti, 225 
Tariff Reform, 140-2 
Tasman, 225, 237 
Tasmania, 225, 227, 229, 230 
Tchaka, 207-208 
Tel-el-Kebir, 271 
Telford, 9 
Tevsrfik, 270, 276 
Tibet, 140 
Tillett, Ben, 161 
Times, The, 55, 74, no, 129-130 



Tipu Sahib, 245 

Tithe, in England, 56; in Ireland, 

93. 97 
Togoland, 214 
Toronto, 185 
Torquay, 148 
Torres, 224 

Trade Unions, 159-161, 167 
Transportation, 56, 225, 229 
Transvaal, 208-213, 215-223 
Trek, Great, 207 
Trent, 85 

Trevelyan (Sir G. O.), 122, 126 
Triple Alliance, 140 
Triple Entente, 140 
Tugela River, 220 
Turkey, 63-9, 72-7, 111-116, 136 
Two Sicilies, 71, 80-82 
Tyndall, 157 

Uganda, 214 

Uitlanders, 215-218 

"Ulster Right," 99 

Ulundi, 211 

Union of South Africa, 222-223 

United States of America, 70, 84-87, 

108, 144, 185, 190-191, 194, 195, 

199-200, 233 

Vaccination, 54 

Van Diemen's Land, see Tasmania 

Vancouver, Fort, 197; Island, 191, 

197 
Varna, 73, 75 
Venezuela, 136 
Venice, 62, 70, 82 
Vereeniging, 221 
Verona, Congress of, 65 
Versailles, Treaty of, 181, 191 
Vesey- Fitzgerald, 95 
Victor Emmanuel II, 81-82 
Victoria, 227-9 
Victoria, Queen, 33-34, 40, 42, 45, 

81, no, III, 116, 122, 128, 137- 

.139 

Vienna, 70; Congress of, 62-63, 176 

Wadi Haifa, 275, 276 
Waitangi, Treaty of, 239-240 
Waitara, 241 



INDEX 



295 



Wakefield, Gibbon, 238 ; Colonel 

W., 238-239 
Wales, Prince of, see Edward VII 
Walfish Bay, 213 (footnote) 
Wallachia, 64, 67, 73, H2 
Washington, Treaty of, 199 
Waterloo, 4 
Webb, S., 161, 165 
Wellesley, Lord, 245-246 
Wellington (N.Z.), 239 
Wellington, Duke of, 15, 19, 20, 23, 

25, 40, 44-46, 67, 96 
Wentworth, W. C. , 226 
Western Australia, 227, 230, 231, 

Wlieeler, Sir H. M., 256 
White, Sir Geo., 219-220 



Wilberforce, Wm, 51 

William I, German Emperor, 87 

William II, German Emperor, 136, 

138-140, 199, 219 
William IV, 20, 33 
Wilson, Archdale, 258 
Witwatersrand, 215 
Wolff, Sir H. D., 118 
Wolseley (Lord), 271, 273 
Wood, Sir E., 275 

Yeomanry, decay of, 12 
York, Cape, 227 

Zanzibar, 214 
Zulus, 207-211, 213 



CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY J. B. PEACE, M.A., AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 



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